


A Starry Eighth Year

by appalyneinstitute1, Tay_Quin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Death Eater Trials, Fluff, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, I mean duh it’s in the title, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, POC Harry Potter, POV Multiple, POV Third Person, Patronus Charm (Harry Potter), Roommates, Stars, Teacher!Harry, Teacher!Hermione, its only in one chapter really tho, like a lot of that apparently, oh my god they were roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 51,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24826513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appalyneinstitute1/pseuds/appalyneinstitute1, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tay_Quin/pseuds/Tay_Quin
Summary: After the war Harry gets a note from none other than Minerva McGonagall asking him and Hermione to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. As they were already retuning for their eighth year the two gladly accepted.Draco Malfoy decides to return to Hogwarts after the war. His trial wasn’t until November, so he was going to hold onto his eduction as long as he could.Neither boy expected to end up sharing a room with the other.It’s a Drarry 8th year fic featuring Death Eater trials, need we say more?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hannah Abbott/Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger/Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Pansy Parkinson/Ron Weasley
Comments: 77
Kudos: 323





	1. Draco: Returning for the Last Time

**Author's Note:**

> So here’s the deal, Tay and I decided to work on this thing together I will write the Harry POV chapters and she will do the Draco POV chapters. I’m only doing this A/N because I am uploading this chapter. You’ll see my writing in the next one.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! I hope you like the story! This is my first time doing a collaboration, so I hope it goes well! Enjoy :) This chapter is my writing.  
> —Tay

Draco had been having a rough go of things lately.

But if he was being honest with himself, his life had always been rather difficult, despite his luxurious family estate. 

But now things were worse than ever before. Draco chastised himself internally, that wasn’t true. Things were better now, the Dark Lord was dead. He wasn’t being tortured or forced to torture others every other day anymore. He didn’t have to watch people being murdered. 

But he hated the dark mark that remained, faded into a scar, but there nonetheless. He had spent countless days trying to siphon off or conceal the mark to no avail. Perhaps Granger would come up with some way to remove them. Draco could only hope.

“Are you sure you want to go back?” His mother asked him. Her hands were shaking and her right was clasped tightly over her left forearm. Draco unconsciously mirrored her movement, covering his mark.

They had had this conversation before, several times in fact. And he had gone back and forth in his mind, having the same argument with himself. But he needed to finish his education. So here he was, walking through the barrier and onto platform nine and three quarters. 

Draco kept his head down, but still, he could feel the eyes of those around him staring. His hand went to his forearm again. Draco forced himself to calm down, to breathe.

He kissed his mother goodbye.

“I love you,” He whispered, “See you for Christmas.”

She hugged him tightly and then he was walking up the steps of the train, walking down the corridor. Sitting, alone, in his old compartment. 

He jumped when he heard the sound of the compartment door sliding open. His eyes snapped up. There were Blaise and Pansy, standing awkwardly before him.

Draco tried his best to smile. He wasn’t sure if he had pulled it off, but they entered anyway. Pansy immediately plopped herself down upon the opposite bench, lying comfortably, with her head propped on a hand.

Blaise sat beside Draco and seemed to be scrutinizing him. Draco shifted uncomfortably.

Pansy was the first to break the silence, “Draco, how have the trials been? I- we heard that your whole family was going to be on trial, but I couldn’t find any dates.”

“Father has already been on trial, Potter testified against him. About him getting the chamber opened in our second year. Him being one of those who attacked at the World Cup, returning when the Dark Lord was reborn, being in the department of mysteries, and calling the Dark Lord when Potter was at our house.” Draco said, and there was no animosity in the words. He wasn’t sure what he felt towards Potter, but he knew one thing for sure. He had let go of his hate he had once held. 

“And?” Asked Blaise. It took Draco a moment to understand the question.

“And he was found guilty of being a death eater. But Potter also said my father didn’t fight in the battle of Hogwarts. He talked about how both of my parents were just looking for me.” Draco explained, “So he was only sentenced to fifteen years in Azkaban before parole, a life sentence, monthly visits allowed. It’ll be easier for him there without the dementors.” 

“So, when is your trial?” Pansy inquired, “And your mom’s?”

“They’re going from death eaters with the biggest roles and the most dangerous to those who were likely just under the Imperius curse. Trials are set to run for the next two years. I’ll be going in November and mother will be in March. Potter is set to testify at both of our trials.”

“Do you want us to come with you?” Pansy asked.

“No.” Draco said, a tad to harshly. He hastily added, “You aren’t allowed to come, you aren’t family and you aren’t testifying, so unless you’re on the council, you can’t come.”

“Right,” Blaise said, “Are you worried?”

Draco shook his head, he didn’t want to think about this, not now. It wouldn’t do him any good. “Look, whatever happens, happens. No point dwelling on it. Do you know who else decided to come back?”

“I saw Granger, Longbottom, Weasley and Potter. Finch-Fletchley too.” Pansy replied, contemplating, then she added, “Oh and Abbott.”

“I saw Bones, Daphne, Macmillan and the Patil twins.” Blaise said, “So that’s how many people? Three... seven... nine... fourteen. So if we didn’t miss anyone then there will be fourteen of us.”

Draco thought there were some things that the Hogwarts staff needed to work out. 

Pansy seemed to share his thoughts, “Where will our dorms be, there isn’t any room in the dorms.”

“There just might, a lot of people died.” Blaise said solemnly.

“Teachers included. We’ll need a new potions master.” Slughorn had gone back into retirement and Snape was dead. “And a transfiguration teacher.” McGonagall was the headmistress now. “Muggle Studies.” He had watched Charity Burbage die. He pushed the thought from his mind. “Defense Against the Dark Arts.” That position had been occupied by Carrow.

“I wonder if McGonagall managed it.” Blaise said, “And who knows if all of the others stayed.”

Draco contemplated that. Would the others stay? They had stayed last year, but that had been to try and protect the students. But, what would happen, now that the danger had passed? How would he be treated by the other students? After everything that had happened, he knew he deserved whatever he got. Would they turn the other way when they saw him coming? Whisper behind his back? Or would they mock him? Try to kill him? 

He had to remind himself that it was just one year. Perhaps less than that, if he was sentenced to time in Azkaban, come November.

He wondered what Potter would say at his trial. Would he tell the council about everything Draco had done during their time in school together? Or would he stick to the things that happened while Draco was a death eater? Either way, the list was pretty condemning.

He had done so many terrible things, tormenting Potter and his friends over the years.

Surely nothing good would come of this.


	2. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! It’s Appie again, here is a chapter I actually wrote.
> 
> DIACLAIMER: If you recognize it it’s not ours and we make no money off it.
> 
> Please leave Comments they are super helpful and fun to read!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Harry dropped his trunk into the compartment on the train. As usual the Weasley family was nearly late, mostly because Ron was dragging his feet. Hermione was already waiting for them with Neville and Luna. Ron went in and sat next to his girlfriend, Harry sat near Neville and Ginny went to sat by Luna. Harry and Ginny had long since decided that they were better as friends. They had tried a few dates between the trials and the funerals and the press, but there just wasn’t that same spark that had been there in his sixth year. 

“Hello Harry, nice to see you. You seem to have lost quite a few wrackspurts since the last time I saw you.” Said Luna cheerily. 

“Nice to see you too Luna.” Harry replied unsure if the wrackspurts thing was good or bad. 

The car sat in silence for a while. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had helped with the repair efforts on the castle, but everyone seemed a little shocked that they were actually going back.

“Does anyone know who the new teachers are gonna be this year?” Asked Neville, breaking the tension. 

“No idea,” said Ron, “Not that I really care.”

“Well, I just hope that the new defense teacher won’t be out to kill anyone this year. We’ve had enough of that.” Neville said.

“Do you want to tell them? Or should I?” Harry asked Hermione.

Hermione’s face lit up, “Harry and I are teaching defense!” she blurted.

“What!?” Ron exclaimed, “How could you not tell me? Why just you two?”

“Well, Harry and I wanted to keep it a secret, until the opening feast. Though I guess I just spoiled that didn’t I? And well, Harry has already run the DA which is the same as the practical side of class. Professor McGonagall decided that I would help him since we both still have our courses to take and I did just as well on the theory.”

Harry remembered getting the summons from Professor McGonagall over the summer. He had been living in Grimmuald place with Andromeda and baby Teddy, they had decided that once Harry had gotten a full time job they would split custody of his godson. He was in the middle of cleaning out one of the spare rooms when he got the owl. He had flooed over to McGonagall’s office in Hogwarts soon after and was a bit surprised to find Hermione there, she and Ron had recently gotten back from Australia with her parents, and she had decided to make up for lost time and stay with them.

The newly minted Headmistress of Hogwarts was desperate for someone to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. The other open positions had been filled in a heartbeat, but with Snape’s death, the curse on the position had, as far as the public was concerned, been confirmed as cursed. Harry had said yes in an instant when he was asked, as did Hermione. Their former Transfigurations professor had offered them pay, Harry had almost turned it down, until he saw the conflicted look on Hermione’s face. She didn’t have a Gringotts vault full of galleons like he did, yet he could tell she didn’t want the money. They had ultimately decided to get half pay and Hermione flooed right to Gringotts to set up an account. 

There were also teacher duties they had, like patrolling the halls late at night and into the early mornings once a week after the prefect’s shift, or sitting at the staff table to monitor meals in the great hall. Professor McGonagall had asked Harry to be in charge of the sorting hat this year since the first years would probably be less scared this year if their hero was one of the first faces they saw. He had been reluctant, as deputy headmaster Flitwick should have been in charge this year, but he had conceded. Not even Hermione knew about this duty though.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts by Ginny “So, are Professors Granger and Potter gonna go easy on us this year?”

“No.” Hermione and Harry said at the same time.

“We all still have NEWTs this spring. Even Harry and I. Also our grade is based on how we correct student assignments. Professor McGonagall said she’d pull an essay from each year a month and base how we were doing on the mistakes we caught, she also will sit in on some of your practical exams.” Hermione continued.

The friends chattered for a while and got plenty of sweets from the trolley witch. They were all ignoring the fact that they were headed back to a place where they had seen friends and family die. Where Harry himself had died, though only for a few minutes. Harry was glad that he dropped Care of Magical Creatures because he wasn’t quite sure if he could go back into that forest. 

Before they knew the train had reached the station in Hogsmeade and the students were piling into carriages. Some of the new sixth and seventh years stared at the Thestrals, which they were probably seeing for the first time. No one had taken the train home after the battle, it was parent pick up for everyone, which was made easier because no Muggleborn had been allowed to attend last year. 

Harry climbed into the first carriage with his friends. It took off before the others, he and Hermione had to get there to settle in at the staff table for the night and he had a sorting hat to dust off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to leave comments and kudos!


	3. Draco: Here We Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m updating with Tay’s chapter again!  
> Leave comments I’m sure she’d love to hear them!  
> XOXO  
> —Appie

All of the “eighth years” were gathered in a side corridor, sixteen of them in all. McGonagall’s eyes were scanning everyone, making sure everyone was there, and they spent longer than was strictly necessary, examining Draco. He couldn’t look her in the eyes, not after everything that had happened.

“I need everyone’s attention, please.” She said and everyone stopped whispering to their friends, “We are in the process of rebuilding the school. With that rebuilding, comes change. During this time, we will be attempting to bridge the gap between the four houses. This begins with you. You all will have your own common room and tower. The dorms will be split by girls and boys. Each of you will have a roommate. Since there is an odd number of both girls and boys, one person of each gender will be on their own. This may change though, as our numbers might not be static throughout the year. The room assignments will be entirely random, though I can assure you, you will not be placed in the same room as someone from your same house.” There were several groans at this, “In addition to this, in the Great Hall, you may sit at whatever table you please. This will go for every student attending Hogwarts. You are all of age, so you do not need a head of house, however, any issues can be taken to me. The sorting hat will be pairing you up, so there will be no changes, just as you cannot switch houses. There will be further announcements at the start of term feast, then the sorting, then dinner, then I will take you to your dorms to be given rooms. Now, off you go.”

Everyone filed into the Great Hall. Draco’s eyes widened to see the colors mixed together. Red, yellow, blue and even green at every table. Draco trailed behind Blaise and Pansy and sat between them. He stared into his empty plate. But he could see his reflection in the glass, so he redirected his gaze to the staff table. It was half empty, he counted and found five empty seats. Professor Sprout was there, as were Flitwick, Trelawney, Hagrid, McGonagall, Vector and Sinistra. Draco knew they needed a new teachers for potions, transfiguration, defense against the dark arts and muggle studies. But who would the final seat be occupied by. 

McGonagall stood and silence fell across the hall. 

“As I am sure many of you have noticed,” She gestured to the empty seats, “There are some jobs that need filling. We have filled all vacant spots, so I might first introduce our new transfiguration teacher; Professor Delacroix.” Polite applause ensued across the hall, as a tall, muscled wizard strode into the hall and took his place. “Our new potions master, Professor Barlow!” An extremely skinny witch entered next, she had long ebony hair and dark skin. She wore a kind smile and the finest robes Draco had ever seen. “For muggle studies, Professor Vasven!” A young witch entered, smiling and waving at the students as she passed. “And finally, for defense against the dark arts, please welcome Professors Granger and Potter!” There were several gasps throughout the hall as Potter and Granger entered. They quickly turned to excited cheers. 

Draco was too shocked to cheer, to shocked to do anything more than gawk at the two as they took their places at the staff table. 

“Now, Slytherin and Gryffindor are in need of new heads of house. So, Professor Barlow and Professor Delacroix have graciously volunteered to take up the positions. Professor Barlow will be the head of Gryffindor and Delacroix for Slytherin. Now, we are in the process of bringing the houses together. The houses and the sorting will remain for purposes of Quidditch, dorms and heads of house. However, class schedules will be different. All classes will be mixed with all four houses. Now, without further ado, onto the sorting!”

Draco, Pansy and Blaise paid no attention to the sorting. Instead they took to whispering with one another throughout the whole thing. 

“Do you think Granger and Potter will actually be able to teach us?” Pansy asked.

Draco shrugged, thinking back to their fifth year, “The two of them lead Dumbledore’s army in fifth year. They made Longbottom really good, so I reckon they’ve got a few tricks up their sleeves.”

Blaise nodded, “They’ve certainly got the experience and the skill. Otherwise how could they have broken into Gringotts and escaped on a dragon?”

“The question is, will they teach us?” Pansy asked, gesturing around to the three of them. “They certainly don’t like us. I reckon they might try and have us killed during the class.”

“I don’t think so,” Draco mused, “During the battle of Hogwarts, he saved my life twice, I don’t think he’ll try to kill us.”

“What? He saved your life twice?” Pansy whisper yelled.

Draco nodded, “He saved me from Crabbe’s Fiendfyre and from a death eater just after, though that may have been Weasley.”

“Maybe he and Granger will be good teachers after all.”


	4. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> So this is my chapter and I’m pretty proud of it! (Especially the sorting hat song!) The story might not seem quite cohesive at this point, but Tay and I are meeting tomorrow to buckle down on some plot points so there is surely more in store!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Harry and Hermione split off from the group and went to the chamber near the great hall. Professor McGonagall was there with the other new teachers.

One of the new Professors was a young blonde witch “Y-you’re -you’re” She started.

Harry fought an eye roll, “Yes, she is in fact the famous Hermione Granger,” He said with a smile as he gestured towards Hermione. “Harry Potter, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand for a shake and she took it.

“Azalea Vasven,” She said.

“Nice to meet you Professor.”

The other new professors introduced themselves with very few nerves. Professor Delacroix spoke with a slight French accent and Professor Barlow surely seemed like a nicer professor than Snape had been.

After Professor McGonagall introduced them to the students in the Great Hall Harry went to take his seat between Hermione and Hagrid’s currently vacated seat at the staff table, how strange that felt, and then he remembered he had something to do. He stood up awkwardly and headed into the chamber where the new first years had now gathered. Hermione gave him an odd look, but he didn’t say anything.

He entered the chamber and nodded to Hagrid. Hagrid left to take his seat at they staff table. He turned to see a group of awestruck eleven-year-olds.

“Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor Potter, and I will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. You will be sorted into one of four houses before the opening feast. Your house will be like your family while you are here. The houses are as follows, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.”

He could tell some of the kids had heard of the Slytherin reputation. “No house is better than any other and you will have classes and be able to eat with friends from different houses.”

Some kids still looked skeptical. “When I was sorted I almost went into Slytherin and I think that I might have done well there, perhaps have even better than I did in Gryffindor. Now follow me, the sorting is about to begin.”

Harry lifted up the stool, that was situated off in a corner with the sorting hat. He carried it into the Great Hall and set it down. He turned to the students and pulled the list of names from his pocket as the hat began to _sing._

_“There once were founders four_   
_Who made a school and furthermore_   
_Created each a house_   
_And me to help them sort_

_Godric Gryffidor once was_   
_A noble man indeed_   
_He stood for honor and for chivalry_   
_And bravery all his deeds_

_Rowena Ravenclaw is next_   
_She was the brightest of the bunch_   
_For wit and wisdom did she stand_   
_And she didn’t make a fuss_

_Salazar Slytherin is third_   
_Though his reputation is poor_   
_He stood for cunning and ambition_   
_Though his heirs did not understand_

_Helga Hufflepuff the last_   
_The kind one through and through_   
_Honesty loyalty and patience were what she valued_   
_Her house takes whomever though that doesn’t mean it’s not fun_

_As of recently the houses stand_   
_United like never before_   
_I hope they stay this way_   
_So no one has to fight anymore”_

The Great Hall filled with applause as the hat finished. Harry turned to his sheet “Allen, Lexi.”

A dark haired girl appeared from the mob of eleven-year-olds and went nervously up to the hat. She sat down and Harry placed the hat on her head and it fell down over her eyes. A few seconds passed and it declared “SLYTHERIN!”

The Great Hall was silent. Harry smiled and started clapping. As the girl went to take her seat, the rest of the staff and the current Slytherins had joined in. By the time she was seated, the whole hall was applauding, like normal. Harry read the next name, “Anderson, Hale.”

The year had officially started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to leave comments and kudos!!  
> They do feed my soul


	5. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We will be trying to update weekly. We will be adding two chapters (one for Draco and one for Harry) every Friday!
> 
> Enjoy this weeks Draco chapter :)
> 
> —Tay <3

The eighth years trudged to the common room, specially made for them. Draco was surprised to find it, pretty. A bright purple was balanced out with gray to fill the room. Plush armchairs and sofas were strew about and a fire danced in the hearth. Portraits and tapestries, befitting all four houses, adorned the walls. The only thing that threw Draco, was the fact that, the room was circular. Sure, he knew it made sense, they were inside of a circular tower, but even so, it made him uneasy. There were no corners to lurk in, hide in the shadows of. He would not be able to survive this year, if he couldn’t go unnoticed. 

He wondered if the dorm rooms would circular too. And would each room be its own floor?

His questions were answered almost immediately as Professor McGonagall began to speak, “Silence, please, everyone!” She called across the room and in an instant, the soft murmuring of the other eighth years had died down into utter silence. “Now, I shall place the sorting hat on each of your heads individually, so it knows who all of the options are. Then it shall call out room numbers for each of you. Understood?” 

There was a lot of nodding, but Draco felt it he moved his head like that, he might pass out. What if his roommate despised him and tried to hex him in his sleep? Or worse? Draco’s insides churned at the prospect of being murdered by another one of these students. 

McGonagall swiftly moved around the room, placing the hat onto each student’s head, until it seemed satisfied. Then she moved to strand in front of us, once more.

“I don’t have a condensed list of all of the eighth year students quite yet. So we will be going alphabetically through the each of the houses. This means Gryffindor first, then Hufflepuff, followed by Ravenclaw and ending with Slytherin. Hermione Granger!” McGonagall called out.

The sorting hat was placed back onto her head, and very quickly it called out, “Room one!”

“Neville Longbottom!”

“Room two!”

Draco zoned out very quickly, plagued by thoughts of before Voldemort’s fall. His fingers began to twitch and he hastily stuffed his hands into his pockets to avoid drawing attention to himself.

By the time he came back to himself, Padma Patil of Ravenclaw was walking up to the sorting hat. That meant it would be his turn soon. 

“Room nine!” The sorting hat bellowed, and she hopped up and disappeared up the staircase that led to the girl’s dorms.

“Now, for Slytherin! Daphne Greengrass!” Professor McGonagall said, smiling kindly at Daphne as she dropped the hat onto her head.

“Room nine!” The hat called. So, Daphne and Padma then. Draco idly wondered what they could possibly have in common.

“Draco Malfoy!” Draco didn’t move, lost in his own thoughts, once again. “Draco Malfoy!” Pansy elbowed him in the ribs and he finally realized, he was supposed to be doing something. He hurried to Professor McGonagall. She smiled at him too, but it seemed a little more forced than it had with Daphne. Perhaps he was just being paranoid. Perhaps she wasn’t looking at him any differently than she had looked at the rest. Perhaps her gaze hadn’t lingered on him before the feast. Perhaps he was losing his mind, imagining things.

“Room seven!” The hat called and he moved, jerkily, away from McGonagall, towards the boy’s stairs. 

He had no idea who he could possibly be rooming with. 

He hoped desperately to be placed with Blaise, but he knew it was impossible. McGonagall had said that no one would be placed with anyone from their same original house. Could the sorting hat have made a mistake though, and placed him with Blaise anyway? He highly doubted it, things never went his way. It just wasn’t in the cards for him to be happy. 

But maybe he would be the boy who didn’t have to share with anyone. Maybe the sorting hat would realize that everyone hated him and grant him a reprieve by letting him be by himself. He doubted that too. 

If anyone deserved their own room, it was Potter. Potter, who had defeated the Dark Lord. Potter, who had hunted Horcruxes, broken into Gringotts, escaped on a dragon, defeated a basilisk, earned the philosopher’s stone, warded off hundreds of dementors with a single patronus, led a secret club to teach others how to defend themselves, how to fight. Won the TriWizard Tournament, saved his life, despite everything that had happened between them, and done about a million other things, that Draco didn’t know about. 

Yes, if anyone deserved the peace and quiet of having their own room, it was Potter.

In his head, Draco ran through the other possibilities. He could be with either of the Ravenclaw boys, Corner and Goldstein. He couldn’t remember any interactions with either of them, but he had seen them hanging around Potter in the past, and they likely knew all about what he had done. There were the Hufflepuffs, Macmillan and Finch-Fletchley. Both of whom were also friends of Potter’s. And Finch-Fletchley was a muggleborn, so he had even more reason to hate Draco.

And then, their were the Gryffindors themselves. Longbottom, Potter and Weasley. Weasley would likely relish in the opportunity to murder Draco, and Draco couldn’t stand him either. Longbottom had changed, quite a bit in these last couple of years. He was a force to be reckoned with, and if Draco was remembering correctly (everything from the battle was a blur), Longbottom had destroyed one of the Dark Lord’s Horcruxes. He didn’t know how Longbottom would act around him, how Longbottom would treat him. He didn’t think Longbottom would hex him or try to murder him, so that was something. 

There it was, room seven. It was time for him to find out who his roommate was. His insides roiled in trepidation and his hand shook as he reached out for the doorknob. He swallowed hard as he pushed open the door, to find-

“Potter?” Draco’s voice was raw, with shock and apprehension. He was confused, why was Potter here? Why had they been paired together?

“Malfoy.” Potter’s voice was cool, nonchalant, and without another word, he left the room, leaving Draco all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments and kudos if you liked it!
> 
> —Tay <3


	6. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The chapter that gave this fic its name!  
> Hope you like it.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

After his room number was assigned Harry went up to room seven and settled in. The new eighth year dorms were decked out in the year colors, purple and grey, but the students were allowed to change the colors if they wanted. Harry still hadn’t decided what to do for his colors. He knew for sure he wouldn’t be rooming with another Gryffindor, so his default colors of red and gold were off the table. Harry went over to his trunk and started to unpack. His clothes went into the wardrobe, and his books went to stack on his desk. Hermione insisted that if they were going to teach together Harry would have to be more organized this year.

Harry sat down at the desk, his left side he would devote the drawers to all his student needs, blank parchment, black ink, and normal quills along with his textbooks. He kept a few defense books on the right for him to teach from. Hermione had insisted they also follow the curriculum to the letter, so the books would certainly help keep him on track. Harry also left some red ink and spellcheck and cheating detecting quills in the drawers on that side.

He then returned to his trunk and lifted out his firebolt and hung it on the broom rack on the wall.The Order had held onto number four as a safe house, so Harry had been able to retrieve his things over the summer. All that stayed in the trunk was the marauder’s map and the invisibility cloak. Most of Harry’s things were still back at Grimmuald place because he didn’t have a use for them during the school year. He had just flopped over onto his bed when he heard the door open.

“Potter?” Asked a voice.

Harry sat up, it was Draco Malfoy. He was supposed to be roommates with his rival. The sorting hat definitely had a cruel sense of humor.

“Malfoy.” Harry simply nodded before grabbing his bathroom bag and leaving.

Harry, though technically not a prefect or a house quidditch team captain, the eighth years didn’t have a house team, was allowed to use the prefects bathroom as he was a ‘junior teacher,’ which was what the position had been officially named. He made his way down to the fifth floor, and by the time he returned to eighth year dorm seven, Malfoy was in the last stages of getting ready for bed.

Malfoy apparently had had enough time to change the colors on his side of the room to swirls of navy blue and emerald green along with unpacking and getting ready for bed. Though the green was technically a Slytherin color Harry thought that it gave Malfoy’s side of the room a more peaceful look.

“I see you redid your colors.” Said Harry. He had decided to try to be civil to Malfoy this year, he was going to be his teacher and wanted to treat him and the other Slytherins fairly. Harry might have a newfound respect for Snape, but he was not going to let a grudge get in the way of his teaching.

“You got a problem with them Potter?” Draco asked, almost defensively.

“No, actually, they’re really nice. Like the ocean. I still haven’t decided how to do mine yet, or even if I’m doing them. If I don’t decide within the next few weeks I guess you could do them, to match yours so that the room looks uniform.” Harry rambled.

“Oh, ok.” Malfoy seemed stunned, there was an awkward silence for a minute, then he said,“Why are you being nice, er civil, to me?”

“Well, for one, we are sharing a room, apparently, and I for one would not want to blow it up in a duel. I am also going to be a teacher this year, so I want to be fair. And three, we are adults, and it is high time to bury the hatchet on a childhood rivalry.”

Draco nodded and looked relieved “One question, what is a hatchet and why are we burying it?”

“It’s a type of muggle axe, when you bury the hatchet, metaphorically of course, it means to end a longstanding conflict of sorts.” Harry said calmly, trying his best not to sound condescending. He should have expected that Draco wouldn’t know the phrase. “Truce?”

“Sure.” Malfoy held out his hand. For Harry to shake and Harry took it. “Goodnight then.” Draco pulled back his hand, crawled into bed, and drew the curtains shut.

“‘Night Malfoy.” Harry climbed into his bed, but left his curtains open, it felt less constricting.

It was the middle of the night when Harry was awakened by sounds of distress coming from Malfoy’s bed. Something in him acted on instinct, it had become a general rule with pretty much anyone he stayed with that summer to wake someone up if they were having a nightmare and help them calm down.

He climbed out of bed and went over to Malfoy, “Malfoy. Malfoy. Draco. Draco wake up!” he said in a whisper-shout.

Malfoy’s eyes flew open. “Potter? What-“ He trailed off.

“You were having a nightmare. Do you want to talk about it? No, wait that was probably a stupid question, we’re not exactly friends.” Harry winced at his words internally, why did he have to say that?

Harry had started to head back to his own bed when he heard, “Why’d you wake me up?”

Maybe it was the newfound truce or Harry’s tired state, but he went the truth. “Nearly everyone I know has had terrible nightmares this summer. It became normal to wake someone up from them.” He took a breath then added “I get them too.”

Malfoy was silent.

“I guess I’ll go.”

“Wait.”

Harry turned around.

“Do you know anything that would help?”

“In the long run, seeing a mind healer, or at least talking through whatever your nightmares are about with friends. Right now? I usually get a cup of tea and go on a midnight walk, if it’s cloudy out I’ll spell a night sky above my bed. Seeing the stars clears my mind.” Harry actually didn’t mind sharing this if it would help Malfoy, though he didn’t think Malfoy would dare to remember this conversation later.

“Could you show me?” Malfoy asked. Harry assumed that this willingness to talk coming from the ex-Slytherin was probably due to sleep deprivation and decided to go along with it. Harry used his magic to position his bed nearer to Malfoy’s.

_“Noctis stellae_ ” Harry murmured as he waved his wand in a star pattern. A beautiful starry sky spread between the canopies of the two beds.

Soon enough both Harry and Malfoy had fallen asleep while staring at the calming starry sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to leave comments and kudos!  
> The comments especially!


	7. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you're having a great summer thus far. Though Appie and I are writing fan fiction for JKR’s books, this does not mean we condone her recent comments or actions. The things she has said as of late are absolutely appalling and go against the things we believe in. With that said, we do still love the world and characters she created during her prime. We will not let her bigotry destroy the Harry Potter books. With that said, please enjoy!

Draco had to admit, he was exceedingly nervous for the official start of term. He had to be careful, control himself. One false step could be his downfall. He knew everyone would keep one eye locked on him, waiting for him to do something to prove he was who they thought he was; a death eater. 

He wanted desperately to prove them wrong, to show them, he had not had the life he had envisioned for himself. He had never, truly, wanted to be a death eater, a murderer, despite the fronts he put up. He had even boasted about his task to his friends, on the Hogwarts Express before sixth year. 

He inhaled shakily, looking at the stars above him. The false, starry sky created by Potter. Potter, who maybe didn’t hate him after all. Potter, who had woken him from his nightmare. 

He was glad that Potter had done it, the nightmare had been terrible. The worst of all his nightmares. 

Potter was there, in his house. And so were Potter’s friends, Granger and Weasley. But Potter didn’t quite look like himself, he had been hit with a stinging jinx. Perhaps Draco could lie, say it wasn’t Potter, nor his friends. They would be released, Potter would leave. And then there would be no reason for the Dark Lord to come. Draco hated it when the Dark Lord came.

“Well, Draco?” His father was asking him and he could do it! He could lie and this would all be over. Potter could go back to trying to find a way to kill the Dark Lord and Draco could be free. “Is it? Is it Harry Potter?”

“I can’t- I can’t be sure.” But Draco was a coward, and he had never learned how to lie. Greyback was standing so close to him, staring at him, making him lose his nerve. 

His father wouldn’t accept that answer, he was too anxious to get into the Dark Lord’s good graces again. “But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!” Why couldn’t his father understand that Draco didn’t want to be a part of this? 

Hands shaking, he moved forward, closer to Potter. Come on, say no. Just say no! Lie! Be strong! Be brave! 

His father was arguing with Greyback now, and Draco locked eyes with Granger. Ever so slightly, she shook her head. But he wasn’t sure if he could do it. His nerve had failed him at every turn. He looked back at her with pleading eyes, silently begging her to come up with some plan, to get them all out of this. She was the smart one, after all. She had shoved him down into second best in every subject. 

Then his father was speaking to him once more. “There’s something there, it could be the scar, stretched tight. Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?”

He moved stiffly, ever closer and then he was bending down in front of Potter, for this was unmistakably Potter. Just say no, come on, please, say no. Say no. “I don’t know.” ‘Damn you!’ Draco thought to himself. 

Then he was being asked about Granger. “Look, Draco, isn’t it the Granger girl?”

Granger’s eyes were wide, beginning him not to give her away. But hadn’t she realized by now, how weak I was? “I... maybe... yeah.”

Then they asked him about Weasley, and Draco, yet again, pretended to be unsure.

Then his dreadful aunt had strode into the room and hell had broken loose. And Draco was forced to listen to Granger’s screams, and Bellatrix’s hissed, “Mudblood” over and over. He had to duel Potter and Weasley, despite wanting, more than anything, to just let them go.

They had escaped and the Dark Lord had shown up. He was furious, in a rage, like nothing I had ever seen. He hadn’t even been that level of terrifying when Draco’s father had failed to apprehend the prophecy.

He had forced Draco to use the cruciatus on both of his parents. Then they had been forced to preform in upon him. For hours and hours the agony seemed to last and then-

Harry had woken him up. No, Potter, Potter, always Potter. Never Harry. And Draco couldn’t understand it, why Potter had done it. Why the hell would Potter care? Then it hit him, Potter didn’t care. He was being stupid, trapping himself in his own mind again. Potter didn’t care if he was suffering, Draco had merely been interrupting his sleep, and Potter had woken him up, simply for some peace and quiet. 

He looked over to where Potter lay, sleeping soundly, as though no nightmares plagued him. Potter’s hair was messier than usual (quite a feat) and his lips were parted slightly. He didn’t have his glasses on. Draco looked away, because, well, without his glasses Potter looked... vulnerable. 

Draco instead looked to his watch, which sat upon his nightstand. It was battered and cracked, but it was his. He picked it up, almost tenderly, and clasped it around his wrist. 

It was five in the morning. He showered and brushed his teeth, with haste. He dressed as silently as possible and tied his laces with nimble fingers. He took one last look at Ha- at Potter before closing the door softly behind him.

He made his way down to the Great Hall. It was strange to him, going down from a tower, rather than up from the Slytherin common room in the dungeons.

He ate quickly and in silence. Professor McGonagall sat at the head of the staff table, with the new head of Slytherin, Professor Delacroix. Someone else was there, a younger Hufflepuff, but that was all. It was better this way, Draco thought. If he kept out of everyone else’s way, he had a higher chance of surviving this year. 

When he was finished, he stood to leave, but was stopped by a brisk calling of his name. It was McGonagall. She walked to him and pressed a piece of parchment into his hands, all he saw in her eyes was kindness. Odd. 

He averted his eyes, unable to stomach her gaze for very long. 

Instead he looked to the piece of parchment in his hands. His schedule, of course. 

He didn’t know why he had expected something else. Nor did he know what he had expected and the brief jolt of fear he had felt, now seemed foolish and cowardly. 

His first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Granger and Potter. Fantastic.

He thought it was best to get the class out of the way, as quickly as possible. He skimmed through the rest of his classes for the day and then headed back up to his shared dorm room.

Potter was still asleep when he got there. How late was he planning on sleeping? He ought to wake soon if he intended on making it to his first lesson on time. 

Draco wondered if he should awaken him. But he soon thought better of it. Potter may well slit his throat if he disturbed his sleep. 

Draco gathered his things as he did most everything else nowadays; quickly and in silence. 

He headed down to the Defense room to wait.

The rest of the class queued up, a short while later. No one looked at Draco.

Sure enough, Potter and Granger were late to the lesson.

The fear began to rise back up in Draco. Potter could kill him and make it look like an accident.

His hands started to shake from within his pockets, and he forced himself to swallow down that fear and walk in the door, knowing he might never cross over that threshold, on his own two feet, again.


	8. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was proud of my last chapter I think I am more proud of how Tay and I’s chapters coordinated this week. Hope you like it please remember to leave comments and Kudos!!!
> 
> XOXO   
> —Appie

On the first day of classes, Harry woke up early for once in his life. Okay not early, but he didn’t snooze his alarm charm at all. His brain registered that Malfoy had gone down to breakfast already, but it was too early for him to care. He headed down to the great hall and sat down at the ‘Gryffindor’ table. While there officially weren’t any house tables anymore, but most students still sat at their old house table with the rest of their house. It was habit more than anything. Hermione was already halfway through her breakfast when he got there. 

The two started to go over their lesson plans for the day. Slowly, but surely the rest of the student body started pouring into the Great Hall. The teachers then went through the ritual of handing out schedules. 

Ron, who appeared to have snoozed his alarm charm one time too many, finally came down. He gave Hermione a good morning kiss and sat down. “What’d you think our first class is?” 

Harry shrugged innocently. He knew that he and Hermione were teaching the eighth years first, as a way of easing them into teaching. McGonagall was making her way around the hall passing out the Eighth year schedules, by the time she got to their table most of the students had finished breakfast. 

“Defense first! I’m glad we’re starting off easy.” Ron said.

“Remember that we aren’t going easy on you. And that you actually have to know the theory Ronald.” Hermione reprimanded.

“We should get going.” Harry said and stood up. The three headed back to the dorms to get their things. When Ron was ready first, that was shocking really, Harry told him to go ahead, saying that he and Hermione wanted to show up together.

When Hermione didn’t show up within the next few minutes Harry went to her dorm to see what was up. 

Hermione was sitting on the bed staring off into space.

“‘Mione?” 

“What if I’m a bad teacher?” 

Harry went over to the bed and sat down next to her. “Hermione Jean Granger, smartest witch in her year, key person in the defeat of Voldemort, a bad Defense teacher? That thought never crossed my mind.”

“But-”

“We have been preparing for over a month, and they know it’s our first class. If we mess up, we learn from it. Also this first class are our age it’s not like McGonagall set us up with first years. So take a deep breath, and find that Gryffindor courage. Trust me, we’ve got this.”

“Right. A room full of eighteen-year-olds can’t be any scarier than facing a three headed dog.” She stood up, “Thanks.”

The two then realized they were almost late and had to run to get to class.

When they arrived to class the rest of the eighth years were waiting by the door. 

“Sorry we’re late!” Hermione said as Harry went to undo the spell that locked the door.

Harry could hear Ron asking Hermione if she was okay. Harry was glad his friends were together, but he knew a single argument could blow them apart for good. 

As everyone filed in Harry went over to the teacher’s desk, fighting the natural urge to sit with the rest of the class. He sat back onto it, Hermione standing off to the side. 

“Well, here we are, your last first day of Defense Against the Dark Arts. I honestly hope that, unless you plan on joining the Aurors next year, you will never have to use anything we teach you outside of this room. We’ve all had enough defending ourselves for one lifetime.” Harry started, “First things first, we do not expect you to call us Professors, that will only be for years one through five for now. However, we do reserve the right to mete out punishments if you decide to be disrespectful during class.”

“Today’s class should be easy,” Hermione went on, “Since none of you have had an actual defense class in at least a year we are just doing a baseline assessment. You will be split into two groups based on room number, I will put you through a theory test.”

Harry could hear groans from about a third of the class, “Relax, it’s not that bad, she made me take it too. And anyways, you knew that you were signing up to retake a year of school. I will be doing a practical test. Rooms two through five are with me to start.”

Harry led the students over to the side of the room which was allotted for practical magic. There were dueling mats with warded barriers that would prevent people from flying across the room and would alert Harry and Hermione if someone was seriously injured.

Harry turned to the students and put up a sound barrier between the two halves of the classroom “Okay each of you will have a go at dueling your roommate. Use the most complex spells you know that are not lethal, illegal, or able to cause severe bodily harm. Mr. Longbottom you’ll be with me, is that okay?” The group seemed taken aback that he used Neville’s last name. Harry too, thought it was strange calling his friends by their last names like that, but he thought it would help him get into the habit for the younger years.

Neville nodded. 

“Miss Parkinson and Miss Abbott, you’re up first.” The two girls both seemed adept at defensive magic, Pansy needed help with her stance, and Hannah needed to work on her speed. Both were quite good nonverbally as well.

“Mr. Weasley and Mr. Macmillan.” As Harry payed attention to the duel he noticed that Ron was not good at non verbal spells, but knew more than Ernie. Of course he and Hermione had expected Ron to know more at this point.

“Mr. Corner and Mr. Finch-Fletchley.” Nothing truly to note there other than they looked as though they were a year behind, which they were.

“Ok, Mr. Longbottom, you’re up. Don’t look so worried, this is just like the DA, and since I’m assessing you, you will most likely win.”

Harry stepped onto the mat and Neville followed. Despite his initial nervousness Neville seemed to step into his own once they actually started firing spells. Harry noticed few errors in Neville’s work, though that shouldn’t have surprised him, Neville was Head Boy for a reason.

Hermione seemed to be wrapping up just as he and Neville were finishing. All the duels that day had ended in a draw due to time constraints so far. The class switched over so that they could finish the assessment. 

The next group came over. “Today for your assessment you will be dueling your roommate, I expect you to use the most complex defensive spells you know. Like I said to the other group I ask that you do not use anything lethal, illegal, or a spell that could cause severe bodily harm.”   
Harry scanned the students to decide who was to go first, he noticed Malfoy looking as if he’d seen a ghost. Well, in the Muggle sense of the phrase, ghosts were quite normal at Hogwarts. “Miss Bones and Miss Patil you are up first.” He nodded to Susan and Parvati.

The two dueled splendidly as did the next group of Padma and Daphne. “Mr. Malfoy, you seem nervous. Would you prefer to duel Mr. Zabini?” Harry asked, he knew that Malfoy was probably, much like himself, unsettled at the idea of dueling his former rival.

“No, I am just fine, Potter.”

“Ok, whatever you say, just please remember to be respectful. I know I didn’t say it explicitly, but you are to use first names for me and Hermione.”

Malfoy nodded, dumbfounded, as Harry said, “I guess that means Mr. Zabini and Mr. Goldstein are up.”

Once the two finished their duel it was Harry and Malfoy’s turn. 

Harry let Malfoy make the first move, the Slytherin sending out a few non verbal jinxes in rapid succession. Harry batted them away and went on the attack with a few jinxes of his own. Malfoy easily put up a very strong shield, and sent out a petrifucis totalus from behind it. Harry narrowly avoided the jinx and as he was settling back into his feet, Draco had disarmed him. 

“Well done Mr. Malfoy, I think that wraps it up for now. Hermione has a special homework assignment for you, so go take your seats.” Harry went over and picked up his wand. He knew he could have blocked the last spell if he really wanted to, but he also knew that Malfoy, needed a confidence boost, and probably would gain better control over his own wand from disarming Harry. He had sent the wand back via owl post without much to say, but figured that its loyalty needed to be won back from himself.

“The first part of this year is supposed to be dedicated to studying how defense works in the field. Now, the curriculum says that we should have you go over some unclassified Auror reports and such, but many if not all of you have field experience. Tonight’s assignment is easy: come up with three questions on defensive magic used during either war against Voldemort. We will study the more compelling questions during class.”

“Remember that this is about the defensive magic, not the war heroes.” Harry added as the bell started to ring, “Class dismissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would really appreciate if you left comments!  
> I only turned on moderations so we can be sure to see what you think!!!


	9. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you like the chapter!
> 
> -Tay

Draco was up to his ears in homework and it was only the second week of school. He groaned as he tried to get through his twenty inch essay for ancient runes. He was at a loss as to how anyone was able to write that much about runes. He had only reached seven inches and he had already exhausted all of the topics he could think of.

He had been buried in books and slices of parchment, in the spot most similar to a corner, in the eighth year common room. This happened to be the little nook beneath the boy’s staircase. Granger had taken up the opposite spot on the girl’s side. Draco couldn’t help but notice that Potter was sitting off towards the side as well, with Longbottom and Weasley. Longbottom was working on something that seemingly came ease to him, Draco suspected Herbology since that was his best class by far. Potter was pouring over a long piece of parchment, with minuscule handwriting, likely lesson plans from Granger. Weasley was staring distantly out onto the grounds, a look of utter confusion plastered to his face, and his homework, long forgotten upon the table.

Draco realized he had been staring and quickly looked away, refocusing on his ancient runes essay, _The Differences Between Ancient Runes in Egypt, Australia and North America._

Draco got three more inches out before he was interrupted yet again. This time it wasn’t because of his own wandering mind, but rather an announcement from McGonagall.

“Attention students!” McGonagall called out, drawing the room to an attentive silence. “Now I have noticed that the morale is rather low for all of you. Am I sure that much of this is due to the excessive amounts of homework you have all been subjected to. However, the homework is necessary, so I have come up with another way to remedy this problem. Your house will have a Quidditch team and you will play the other teams and compete for the House Cup!”

Excited murmuring burst out throughout the room. Harry grinned, but Draco was just confused. He didn’t think they had very many people who had played for their houses. There was him, Blaise, Potter and Weasley. He was unaware if any of the returning Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws played for their houses. But there inlaid another problem. Potter and him played the same position, and Draco had to admit that Potter was better than he ever would be. He had never played another position in his life. It didn’t matter, he knew better than to join the team.

But McGonagall had started speaking again, so he forced himself away from his thoughts, “Now tryouts will be held this Saturday, and they will be led by your team captain, Draco Malfoy.” It took Draco a moment to comprehend her words, but then it finally sunk in and everything made sense. Professor McGonagall wanted Draco to be murdered, there was no other explanation. He couldn’t lead a team full of people who would hate him! And he couldn’t hold trials and refuse people, he couldn’t choose. “And, everyone will be trying out... for every position. We do not have room in this house for hiding talent, so practice and try your best. The newest brooms have been donated by Bill and Fleur Weasley.”

McGonagall finished her announcement and headed toward the portrait hole. Draco dashed after her, hoping to convince McGonagall to rethink this entire mess. “Professor!” He called and she paused, craning her neck around to look at him.

“Yes, Mr. Malfoy?” She asked him.

“I, er, I can’t be the team captain, everyone hates me and- what about Potter or, or Weasley?” He asked, pleadingly.

“Mr. Potter has too much on his plate, already and Weasley, well, he’s more of a follower, I feel he would not make a good leader.” McGonagall explained evenly.

“Okay, then what about Longbottom or Granger?” Draco tried.

“Neither of them have ever shown the slightest inclination towards Quidditch or anything to do with it, I wouldn’t be surprised if neither of them knew all of the rules.” McGonagall said.

But Draco pressed on, “But Professor, there has to be someone, anyone better suited for the job.”

“You were the best candidate by far, Mr. Malfoy, now this is no longer up for debate. You will be the captain and you will run the tryouts this Saturday. Am I understood?” She asked severely.

Draco nodded, defeated and slipped back into the common room, only to have everyone inside staring at him. They didn’t quite seem angry, just in utter disbelief.

One of the Hufflepuffs, Macmillan, was glaring at him, and in spite of himself, Draco’s heart sank a little. He figured it was a good time to retreat to his room. As he grabbed up his things, he heard Macmillan mutter, “What’s he going to do? If he’ll only take evil pure bloods, he’ll only have half a team.”

Draco squeezed his eyes shut as he scrambled up the curved staircase. He rushed into his room and collapsed onto his bed. He knew better than to expect them to forgive him, no one would ever forgive him. After several minutes, he dragged himself into a sitting position. He had to finish his homework. He sighed and got back to work, trying his best to push away all thoughts of Quidditch and the others in his year.

He got lost in his work, so when Potter entered the room, he didn’t even notice. By the time he resurfaced from his ancient runes essay, he was at twenty seven inches and it was dark outside. He glanced at his watch and was shocked to find that it was nearly two in the morning.

Potter was still awake, but his glasses were off, a clear indicator that he wanted to go to sleep.

“Sorry,” Draco muttered, flicking out the candle, “Lost track of time.”

“It’s not a problem, I’m sure I’ll do the same at some point throughout the year. You’ll have to throw a pillow at me when that happens, I get so wrapped up in whatever I’m doing.” Har- Potter rambled, then added, “Oh, er, congratulations on becoming the Quidditch captain by the way.”

“Thanks, but I don’t actually want it, nor does anyone else want me to have the job.” Draco mumbled, picking at his fingernails. “You can have it.”

Potter laughed, “No, I’ve got enough to do already, I’ll tryout, of course, but I am far to busy to be in charge of something else.”

Draco sighed to himself. _It had been worth a try._

Through the darkness, Potter’s tentative voice came once again, “Well goodnight then.”

“Er, yeah, goodnight,” Draco replied awkwardly, before closing his eyes and falling into a restless sleep.

He was visited by Macmillan’s jeering face in his dreams. Macmillan laughed at him incessantly and then hexed him so he couldn’t move. The rest of the dream was a blur, but whatever had happened was awful and had left him in a shaky, cold sweat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember to leave comments and kudos! And remember that the next chapter has also been posted with Harry’s POV. We will have two more chapters out for you next Friday!
> 
> -Tay


	10. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap this one’s a whopper! Almost 2000 words, and I did it in mainly one sitting. Tay and I couldn’t not include quidditch in this, so we had a lot of fun discussing who would be on the quidditch team. 
> 
> Hope you like it!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Classes were actually going well, though Harry did find himself up to his neck in grading and doing his own classwork. He and Hermione had spent the past few weeks taking the time to work on where students had been lacking in the upper years. They also had to teach the students to read an Auror report because it was going to be on the NEWT exam. Because of this, they hadn’t really touched the eighth year research project quite yet.

Sharing a room with Malfoy wasn’t really all that interesting, Malfoy tended to ignore him, so Harry responded the same way. He did notice though that Malfoy had taken to studying under the staircase, apparently so had Hermione. Harry himself would never be caught dead anywhere near that area, it reminded him of the Dursley’s too much. He enjoyed doing his work over on the couch or in the library, grading was exclusive to his desk.

The day finally came for the students to share the research questions they had come up with. Harry and Hermione sat side by side on the teacher’s desk in the defense classroom as the rest of the eighth years filed in. Before they started the class Harry had an announcement to make.

“Good morning class.” Hermione said, “Today we are finally moving on to the research, we will work on the rest of term. We want you to take turns calling out the questions you should have come up with, Harry and I will add them to the board.

“How did Harry survive the killing curse the first time?” Called out a voice from the back.

“How did he survive the second time?” Harry rolled his eyes, he and Hermione had talked about what people might ask and this had been on the top of their list.

“How were Death Eaters still being actively fought, when the Aurors had been corrupted?”

“Was Dumbledore’s death strategic?”

“If Snape was a spy, how did he avoid detection?”

“How did You-Know-Who survive as long as he did?”

The last question brought silence to the room, Malfoy had asked it. That was the first time he had spoken in class since that first day.

“I mean, it had been months of not hearing anything from you, then suddenly, you’re found by snatchers and You-Know-Who is on his way to get you. You decide to flee, and then like a week later, we are here at the battle. Why not confront him at the manor? Why not kill him long before that? There must be a reason.”

Hermione was silent. Harry put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, and then said, “I think I know what we’re going to discuss today, but first there is another question we need to answer. Can anyone think of it?”

The class sat deep in thought for a few minutes and then a hand went up. Harry quickly called on Neville.

“How was Voldemort able to return?”

“Very good. Teaching the subject of how he returned has been banned up until now, but since we have witnessed first hand what evil they can create, McGonagall has cleared it for us to teach to this class only.”

A few classmates looked concerned. Ron was the only calm one, in fact he was practically asleep.

“Our story starts with Slughorn, and one of his then favorite students, Tom Riddle, who would later rename himself Voldemort. You see Voldemort’s main goal was not pure blood supremacy, in fact he wasn’t even pure blood himself. His father was a muggle and his mother practically a squib. His goal was life eternal.”

Harry then went on to explain what he had seen in the memory from Slughorn and then took guesses as to what the horcruxes were. Once they had finally circled back to Malfoy’s question, the class understood that there was a lot of strategy that went into how they had planned Voldemort’s demise and they were left with more questions for another time. Harry left feeling proud and he hoped Hermione did as well.

A couple days later were the quidditch tryouts. Harry was, frankly, a bit nervous. He was trying out for all the positions, though he had really never played many of them before. Aside from that he had never actually tried out for anything. He had been volunteered by McGonagall for the Gryffindor team and turned out to be a natural,and he had been made quidditch captain because of that, even though he felt like one of the older girls should have had it. He never wanted his name to have been put in the goblet of fire. No one asked him if he wanted to be the one who had to kill Voldemort, though he wouldn’t have said no. And of course his teaching was based on stories McGonagall had heard from the members of the D.A.

Harry grabbed his broom off the wall and headed down to the quidditch pitch, he could have used one of the new brooms that Bill and Fleur had provided, but they were the same model, broom companies hadn’t really had a chance to craft a new model due to the war. Besides, the firebolt was a gift from Sirius and it felt lucky.

He arrived down at the pitch and joined Hermione, who appeared a bit nervous, Ron, holding one of the new firebolts his brother had gotten as if it was a prized possession, (which it probably was seeing as it was a high quality new broom), and Neville, who looked as afraid of his broom as he had back in first year.

“Okay, now that everyone’s here I’m gonna start tryouts.” Draco said, “I- er, I’m gonna- Merlin, how do Potter and Granger do this everyday?”

The group laughed at the joke and Malfoy looked relieved.

“Well, we have enough for a game with four sets of chasers and four keepers, including myself. I’ll rotate you every ten minutes. If you have done keeper, tie one of these,” He held out a bag of neon yellow ties “to the end of your broom. Once everyone has one we’ll move onto the next part.”

For the purposes of the tryouts, two extra sets of hoops were placed on the field, “Weasley, Corner, and Macmillan you’re up. The rest of you divide into teams of three, and find a keeper, color the tails of your brooms to keep track of teams.”

Finding a group was easy, since Harry was standing with the right amount of people anyway. They colored the ends of their brooms a Gryffindor red and took to the air, Neville was actually decent at flying, for being so nervous.

Harry was atrocious as a Chaser, everything was too fast moving for him to keep track of, though that might be the whole four teams at one time thing. There were also two quaffles going around just to make it more difficult. Upon his turn at keeper, he actually found out that he could do it. He did let a few through but all in all he didn’t do terrible.

“For the beater tryouts, you will be playing a bit of ‘pass the bludger’ with three other people. I will only have one group at a time, because the bludgers, are essentially attempting to kill anyone in the air. The orange group is up first.”

Hannah, Susan, Parkinson, and Zabini went up in the air and started playing something that closely resembled a dangerous game of catch.

Harry’s group went next, both Harry and Neville were knocked off their brooms within the first few minutes. Hermione did surprisingly well, considering she had never played before. Ron was also doing well, though Harry didn’t think much of that, he was one of the youngest in a huge family, deflecting blows like that seemed to be a survival instinct.

The final group only had three people, so Malfoy decided to put in someone else, “Granger, head up there.”

Harry was shocked, first off, Malfoy seemed not to be playing favorites, by giving one of his friends another chance. Secondly he had chosen Hermione, who hadn’t shown a lick of real interest in quidditch the whole time he had known her, aside from supporting Harry and Ron when they played.

“And now for the easiest part of this whole ordeal.” Malfoy started, holding a snitch “Who’s going to play seeker? I will watch three seekers games, you will all play at once. Though I will eliminate as we go. If some one catches it twice, they will be seeker, if not, I will make my choice off of what I see. I call your name you’re out.”

Everyone took to the skies, searching for the snitch while Malfoy sat on his broom and watched. After about ten minutes, he called, “Weasley and Pansy.”

Ron dejectedly flew down to the field, as did Parkinson, though she just looked offended.

Harry then spotted the snitch hovering just beside Malfoy. He dived, and grabbed it, but not before nearly knocking Draco off his broom.

“Watch it Potter.”

“What’d you expect me to do? Not get the snitch?”

It was then that Malfoy realized that Harry had the golden ball in hand.

“Good work Potter. New game! Granger and Zabini, out of the air.”

Hermione looked relieved and Harry was off again. Just as Harry spotted the snitch for the second time about half an hour later, Malfoy called “Abbott and Patil, Padma Patil.”

Harry looked back to where the snitch had been and it was gone.

It was another half hour until Harry saw the snitch, this time it was hovering in the middle of one of the goals. Harry zoomed towards it and went through the hoop as he grabbed it. He held it up and went back down to the field.

“Looks like Potter’s our new seeker everyone!” Malfoy called “Meet the rest of you new team.” Malfoy said motioning to the people he had called down. “Weasley is keeper, Granger and Pansy are beaters, and the rest are our chasers. Now you all smell go take a shower and get your homework done.”

Harry smiled and passed the snitch off to Malfoy, quidditch practice would be interesting this year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tay and I had quite the laugh when we thought up Hermione as a beater. 
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos
> 
> See you next week!


	11. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Things are getting crazy on my end, so I’m proud to have this chapter out on time! Enjoy!
> 
> —Tay

Draco watched everyone fly, contemplating who would make the best team. Of course Potter would be the seeker, he was certainly superior to everyone else, including himself. Draco knew he would make a poor keeper and an even worse beater, so that left him with the position of chaser, which he was adequate at. But he would only take up that role if he was truly desperate, he hoped he would be able to find three chasers.

He watched as the chasers flew, shooting over and over, passing between themselves and he soon realized, he would have no difficulty finding chasers. He had no idea there was so much Quidditch talent within his year. He immediately knew that Pansy and Longbottom were not suited to the position. Both of their flying was good, the scoring part was the issue. Perhaps they could take up another position.

He had the list narrowed down to Abbott, Blaise, either of the Patil twins, but not both since they crowded together too much, or Michael Corner. Abbott and Blaise were better than the others, so they had definitely made it. Now the question was, Padma, Parvati or Michael? He watched them fly for a few more minutes and decided that Padma was superior to her sister. But, he had to admit, Michael did seem to be slightly better than Padma. Then he remembered the rumors he had heard about Michael, about what he had done to a couple of Ravenclaw girls, a couple years below him. Draco didn’t think he wanted someone like that poisoning his team. He wanted everyone to feel safe, so he decided Michael would not be a good fit for the team.

Next up were the keepers. Longbottom was actually rather good at this and Draco was considering him for the position. But he knew Longbottom would face the same stage fright troubles that Weasley often experienced. But Weasley beat out Longbottom fair and square, he managed to save every goal shot at him. Five down, only the beaters to go. Well, that and the seeker tryouts, but of course, Potter would win.

Once it was the beaters turn, Draco faced a great shock. Granger was incredible. Who would have thought? So was Pansy, but she had always rather enjoyed hitting things. None of the other applicants were anything special, so Granger and Pansy, it was.

Last up, seeker. Shocker, Potter flew circles around the competition.

So, Draco had his team, Potter, Weasley, Granger, Pansy, Blaise, Patil and Abbott. It wouldn’t hurt to have some substitutes though, in case someone was hurt. Neville could be the backup keeper, Draco could be the backup seeker and chaser, and the backup beater could be... Finch-Fletchley.

Draco was relieved that the tryouts were over, now he just had to get through practices... and games... and team celebrations... and the entire rest of the year... not to mention his trial. Suddenly it all felt like so much to bare.

He took a moment to gather himself, before hurrying into the showers. He showered quickly before heading to the Great Hall for some dinner. Pansy, Daphne and Blaise were already there when he arrived. Draco sat down with them and immediately began to spoon greens onto his plate. He wasn’t hungry, his insides were still a mess of nerves, but he knew he needed to eat if he wanted to maintain his skill on the Quidditch pitch.

“So, Draco,” Daphne began, leaning forward, “How do you feel about the people you chose?”

“I think they’re all strong individually, I just think it will take a lot of work for them to be one unit, a team.” Draco said contemplatively.

“I cannot believe you picked Granger and me to be beaters.” Pansy scoffed. “I was joking and Granger hasn’t got a clue what the rules of Quidditch are. We’ll be a mess.”

“That isn’t what I saw. You were brilliant... both of you.” He said, gesturing to Granger, who sat at the table that used to be for the Hufflepuffs. She was with Weasley, Weasley’s little sister, Longbottom and Potter. Potter’s hair was damp and windswept and oddly attractive. Draco had the sudden urge to run his fingers through it, if only to see the contrast between Potter’s dark hair and his pale fingers.

Embarrassment filled Draco at his unruly mind, as he quickly shoved the thoughts away. He had always managed to hide that side of himself, he wouldn’t allow those thoughts to intrude now. No one could ever know... especially not Potter.

Draco decided that he wasn’t hungry and left the hall, with one final glance in Potter’s direction. Granger seemed to be worrying over something, per usual.

He curled into his little spot in the common room and touched up his homework before heading off to his shared dorm room.

He would have to create some sort of practice schedule for his team and arrange for robes for everyone. McGonagall had mentioned that they could choose whatever color they wanted, aside from the other houses robes. That left them with pink, purple, orange, gray, endless options. He knew that certain members, Weasley, wouldn’t go for pink, and he, himself despised orange. Which left purple and gray. The irony in that wasn’t lost on him, as those were the colors adorning the eighth year common room. He supposed they could do some combination of colors too. Like the blue and green decorating both his and Harry’s bed hangings. He would leave the decision until he could discuss the matter with his team.

His team. The words felt so strange to him, even in his mind. Draco had never been in charge of anything, never earned anything on his own. This was the first thing he would ever be truly responsible for and he was terrified.

He settled himself onto his bed and stared up at the stars charmed across their ceiling. Potter had made them stay, permanently, after having to recast them several nights in a row of ceaseless nightmares. Draco didn’t mind them, he found comfort in them.

Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

Draco didn’t know what time it was when he woke up. All he knew was that it pitch black and someone was screaming. Thunder cascaded about and echoed off the walls, lightning flashed and the screaming- Potter’s screams- stopped abruptly. With the light, of the continued seconds of lightning, Draco craned his neck, just as Potter awoke from a nightmare.

Draco froze, still as a statue, as Potter stood and made his way over to the window. It wasn’t until he sat, that Draco noticed that Potter was shaking. Potter stared out the window for several long moments before rubbing his eyes and casting a silent charm. Draco could only guess what spell had been cast, Potter had gotten so good at the silent ones.

He wondered how much Potter could actually see, without his glasses. He had heard that Potter was nearly blind without them, but he had made it to the window just fine. So perhaps that had simply been one of the many false rumors that had gone around about Harry over the years.

Potter. Potter. Potter. Not Harry. Not Harry.

Potter would always be Potter to him, just as he would always be Malfoy to Potter.

Nothing had changed since they became roommates, and nothing ever would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Be sure to check out Appie’s chapter, and two more chapters will be out next week. Don’t forget to leave us comments and kudos.
> 
> —Tay


	12. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

After a quick shower Harry went off to dinner in the Great Hall. He sat down next to Neville and across from Hermione, who was in mid rant about something with Ron.

“I just don’t know why he would pick me I’ve never even been interested in quidditch before, I only went to the Gryffindor games because of you and Harry, oh hey Harry. And he put me with Parkinson! She and I have never gotten along, and now we each are going to be flying with weapons, that doesn’t sound smart. Also the only times outside of flying class first year I’ve flown were those tryouts and during the battle. I also have so much to do this year between studying for NEWTs, teaching, and attending my classes how am I supposed to make time for quidditch?”

“Take a breath ‘Mione.” Ron said. “If anyone can handle that workload, it’s you, besides you really were one of the best beaters there.”

“I bet if you and Parkinson bonded a bit, you would be unstoppable.” Neville interjected.

“What do you think Harry?” She asked

“It’s gonna be tough. If McGonagall hadn’t made us all try out I wouldn’t have gone for it. She made Malfoy captain and he’s a good enough seeker for me not to see a need to try out. I still think we can do it though. I do agree with Neville, you should do some sort of girly bonding activity with Parkinson. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, Malfoy and I have shared a room for weeks and he and I haven’t even tried to kill each other.”

“I guess that’s true.” Hermione thought for a second and got up.

She marched over to the table where Parkinson and the other 8th year former Slytherins sat and spoke with her. Harry’s eyes wandered over to Malfoy, who was sitting next to Parkinson. He looked worried, and like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. Though Harry knew that to be true, in truth neither of them were sleeping enough. He had decided to put up a permanent star charm on their whole ceiling, Malfoy didn’t seem to mind, though once that was up he changed the colors on Harry’s drapes to match his own.

Harry headed back to his room that night and fell asleep rather quickly, tired from flying all afternoon. Once he fell asleep he started seeing faces of those that were gone, hearing spells fire and rebound, screams of pain coming though the night. He was hot, the room was on fire. Flaming animals coming at him from every direction. He was flying trying to get out, but he couldn’t. The scene morphed into flash after flash of green light aimed at loved ones, and then at him. Just as it neared him he jolted awake in bed.

Harry panted and sat up. He lit his wand and went over to the window seat. The nightmare had felt so real, aside from the way it changed over and over. He opened the curtains and sat in the window. He turned his head towards the sky, it was a stormy night and he could see lightning off in the distance. If it weren’t for the thunder, which sounded eerily like Hogwarts falling apart during the battle, the storm would be extremely relaxing. Once he thought of this, he cast a sound barrier around him to keep the noise out of his head. He fell into a restless sleep in the window seat, looking out at the lightning.

He was shaken awake the next morning. It was Malfoy. Malfoy’s mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out of it, Harry remembered the sound barrier and took it down. Harry looked out the window and noticed it was still dark out.

“Your wand alarm went off.”

“Shit. I’ve got hallway duty. I put up a sound barrier to block the thunder. Thanks for waking me, I gotta go.”

Harry had completely forgotten about his early morning hallway duty that would extend through breakfast, which he had to eat at the staff table, for protocol or something.

“You’re late.” Said Delacroix when they met at the spot where the shift change occurred.

“Sorry. Didn’t hear my alarm.”

Delacroix nodded and yawned. He turned on his heel and left for his quarters.

There were three shifts for night watch. The evening one extended from the first year’s eight thirty curfew to the eighth year’s eleven o’clock curfew, the prefects and head students covered that shift. The night one went from eleven to three, that one was the hardest to recover from. The last one went from three until the end of breakfast, the meal making up for the extra hour tacked onto the shift. Those two were covered by staff members, which meant Harry. Hermione was head girl, meaning she did the evening shift, but made up for it with more meal watches.

While he roamed the halls looking for threats or out of bounds students Harry couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander to Draco. He had woken Harry up, that had never happened before. Draco always seemed too afraid to do anything so bold, Harry guessed would be the correct word even though what Malfoy did wasn’t all that bold. Malfoy had seemed subdued this year, not wanting attention like had almost every other year. Though that might have something to do with his upcoming trial.

All of the Death Eaters that had been rounded up last June were placed under a tracking spell, or house arrest until their trial. House arrest wasn’t exactly feasible with the Malfoys since their home was being picked apart by the aurors. The tracker wasn’t to be removed, if it was and the person was found they would be placed in Ministry custody. There were certain boundaries that if breached would warrant a house arrest apparently, but Harry had no idea what they were.

Harry was set to testify at nearly every trial, though he refused to do all of them. There were most certainly Death Eaters he had not encountered. He only saw Voldemort’s inner circle since he was their main target. Plenty of the dangerous ones had already been put away for long sentences if not life. Harry really only had two trials left to attend, Draco’s and Narcissa’s.

He also knew that he was going to testify on their behalf. They had both done things that had kept him alive, and while he wasn’t sure how much good it would do, he would at least try to let Malfoy finish off the year at Hogwarts.

Before he knew it it was already six thirty, meaning breakfast was opening up. Harry realized how hungry he was and made his way up from where the patrol route had landed him in the dungeons to the Great Hall. He still had a while to go before he was off duty, then he had Transfiguration right after, not to mention Delacroix was probably going to be tired and snappy today because of Harry’s lateness to patrol. He also had second years to teach. That was the worst year, because they all remembered him showing up at the battle, and then them being promptly sent home, but were too young to know any decency regarding personal questions. The first years were at least too wary to ask questions. He also couldn’t forget quidditch practice, Malfoy would probably have his hide if he missed the first one.

As Harry piled his plate with food he resigned himself to the long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments! They’re super helpful!


	13. Draco

Draco didn’t know what to do with himself. It was too early to go down for breakfast, too late to go back to sleep. He could’ve gone back to sleep, there technically was enough time, but he was too awake to manage it in time to get any real sleep. So, he preoccupied himself by staring at Potter’s sleeping form.

Potter looked so peaceful, sitting there, his knees tucked up against his chest, his cheek rested against the window pane. His lips were parted ever so slightly and his hair, untamable as ever. He looked younger in sleep, without the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. Draco understood that, he was sure he looked like that too, that is, when his dreams weren’t plagued by nightmares.

Suddenly a loud buzzing sounded from Potter’s side of the room. Draco jumped violently and was immediately embarrassed. He glanced back to Potter, to see if he had awoken. But he hadn’t. Cautiously, Draco stood and walked towards the sound. Then he thought better of it and returned to his bed. But the sound was unceasing. So, Draco began to pace, his stomach a knot of anxiety, his head scattered. What was he meant to do? 

His whole head started to buzz, in time with the incessant noise. It was getting to him, making his skin crawl. Finally, he gave in to it. He stalked over to Potter’s side of the room and realized...

Potter’s wand alarm was going off.

“Oi! Potter! Your alarm.” Draco called across the room, not looking at Potter. But when Potter didn’t answer, Draco turned around, setting the wand back on Potter’s nightstand. “Potter!” He said, a little louder this time. Still, Potter didn’t so much as stir. That was when Draco began to grow nervous. “Potter?” Nothing. Draco couldn’t tell whether or not Potter was breathing. Was he dead? Had Potter gone and died on him? “Potter!” He didn’t move. “Harry! Wake up!”

He gripped Harry’s shoulders and began to shake him, “Harry, don’t be dead, don’t be dead!” 

Harry’s eyes opened and Draco sagged slightly from relief. Harry glanced out the window and Draco took that moment to mask his expression into cool indifference. He hoped that in Harry- Potter (How long had he been calling him Harry?), in that groovy state that came with having just woken, wouldn’t have taken note of the fear that had been present in his expression.

“Your wand alarm went off,” Draco said coolly. He was proud of how even his voice was, how calm he sounded.

“Shit. I’ve got hallway duty. I put up a sound barrier to block the thunder. Thanks for waking me, I gotta go.” Harry said, before darting off. 

Potter. 

Potter. 

Potter! 

Why was this so hard? He had always been Potter, never Harry. Sure, Potter wasn’t driving him up the walls anymore. Sure, Potter was tolerable now, and not a terrible roommate. Sure, he was maybe just a little attractive. But he was still Potter, the chosen one, the boy who lived... twice now. And he would never pick Draco. 

Draco shook his head, clearing the thought. He had more important things to worry about now. His trial was a week away and he was terrified. Who would be testifying and would they be for or against him. He feared that the majority would do the latter and he would be forced to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. No one alive had been in the astronomy tower when Dumbledore had been killed, at least not anyone who would tell the truth. 

He knew there had been plenty of people who had seen the Dark Lord order Draco to kill Dumbledore. And Potter had known, that whole year, Potter had known what Draco was trying to do. For a moment, he wished Snape had just let Potter kill him in that bathroom.

He was a Death Eater. Even now he couldn’t believe it sometimes. That he had really let it happen. Why hadn’t be fled or asked for help? Draco knew the answer to that though. Because he had thought that the person whom he trusted most at Hogwarts had been the Dark Lord’s greatest supporter. He had desperately wanted Snape’s help, but his pride... and his fear, had gotten in the way. And now, finding out that Snape had been good after all, it hurt more than he had wanted to admit. 

He needed to remember that at least Azkaban no longer had the dementors, so it might not be complete torture, should be be locked up. No, he couldn’t think like that, like he had already received a life sentence. 

He had not killed Dumbledore. He had not killed anyone. He had not given up Potter to Bellatrix or the Dark Lord. He had tried. But still, he had become a death eater. He had nearly murdered Weasley and Bell. He had used the unforgivable curses. Things were not looking good for him.

The terror Draco was feeling made his appetite disappear. He attended most meals, pushing around the food on his plate, but never actually eating, until Pansy began to notice. So he hid out in his room during as many meals as he could, claiming to have the house elves bringing him food. 

He was too scared to notice the hunger that threatened to turn his stomach inside out. He thought he was doing well, turning in all of his work, never missing a single class, even hosting Quidditch practices. But then he was summoned to the Headmistress’s office. 

He knocked on the door that would lead to her office.

“Come in,” She called from the other side.

Tentatively he opened the door and crept inside. “Professor McGonagall, you wanted to see me?” He asked softly.

“Ah yes, Mr. Malfoy, please sit.” She said.

Slowly, he did. 

She leaned forward, resting her clasped hands upon her desk. “So, with your trial coming up, how are you feeling?”

That was not what he had been expecting. He faltered, “I, er, what?”

“I know it can be hard, especially with everything that’s happened, so how are you feeling?” She asked again.

“I guess I’m- I’m fine.” Draco mumbled quickly, his eyes settled upon his knees, one of which was continuously bouncing up and down, an unconscious sign of his nerves.

McGonagall sighed and pursed her lips, “Well, alright, but if you want to talk about anything, I am always here.”

Draco furrowed his brow and looked at her in confusion for a moment, before offering a jerky nod.


	14. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is!!
> 
> I totally forgot to write the chapter this week until I woke up today so that’s fun.....
> 
> It’s kinda short ‘cause my wrist has been bugging me.
> 
> Enjoy! Don’t forget comments and kudos!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Harry didn’t feel like going to lunch that day. It was more facing people than a lack of hunger. The eighth years had somehow gotten to the discussion of the tactics at the battle of Hogwarts, particularly his own death-that-was-not-a-death. Hermione and Ron, the good friends they are tried to steer the conversation to something else in the battle, but it didn’t work.

He retreated to his room, he just needed to be alone. It’s not that the eighth years were insensitive, quite the opposite compared to the other years, at least they had actually fought and had been around for every other crazy Voldemort thing that had happened. They just didn’t seem to see that it affected him so much, talking about his death like it didn’t matter. Harry supposed that from an outsiders perspective it didn’t. He was dead for a few minutes, the curse didn’t stick, within the next hour he had jumped from Hagrid’s arms and killed Voldemort.

Some of the class didn’t realize he had actually died. They just thought that he had been hit by the curse and played dead the whole time, at least up until today. Then came questions about what ‘the other side’ was like. Harry found himself physically unable to tell them. Not in that it was emotionally difficult to say, which it was, no, this was more like the fidelius. There was magic at work keeping him from saying. People aren’t supposed to know what happens when you die.

He set an alarm on his wand and settled in for a quick nap. He had just gotten comfortable when Malfoy entered the room looking distressed.

“What’s wrong?” He asked tentatively,

“Oh, Potter, you’re here? Shouldn’t you be at lunch?”

“Talking about death, particularly my own all morning does not give me much of an appetite. Shouldn’t you be at lunch?”

“Yeah, I’ll just go.”

“Nope. I am invoking my Professor powers, and being a listening ear for your problems until lunch is over. I need to forget some of my own for now anyway.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” Draco started— wait since when was he Draco? How often had Harry been calling him that in his head? “My friends started making plans for the holidays. I couldn’t bring myself to join them.” Draco sat on his bed.

“Why not?”

“My trial is only a week. I don’t feel like I can make any plans until I hear a verdict.”

Harry had been completely oblivious to how soon the trial was, considering that he was speaking at it.

“There’s a whole litany of things stacked against me right now. Letting Death Eaters into the castle, the actual mark on my arm, a handful of Death Eaters who witnessed Him ordering me to kill Dumbledore, and then Dumbledore winding up dead, no one who was on that tower still alive to say that I didn’t kill Dumbledore, it was—”

“Snape.”

“Wait, how did you know that?”

“I was there, wearing an invisibility cloak, pinned against the wall by Dumbledore’s magic.”

“Great so my only hope is that you choose to testify on my side.”

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you how I’m testifying.” Harry truly was. Right now Draco- er Malfoy needed something to comfort him. But legally Harry couldn’t say anything regarding how he was speaking at the trial to Draco, oh screw it he’s Draco now and there was nothing Harry could do about it. The alarm on Harry’s wand went off. “That’s the end of lunch. We should get to potions.”

Draco nodded.

That night at dinner Harry was in much higher spirits. He still felt tired and worn out, but that could be due to not sleeping much lately. Both he and Hermione were eating dinner at the staff table. Most of the rest of the teachers had clocked out for the weekend, leaving the only other teacher being Professor Barlow. She and Hermione were talking animatedly about some Muggle TV show Harry had never heard of, leaving his mind to wander.

Malfoy seriously didn’t still think that Harry could testify against him right? After they had shared a room for two months, and Harry being his teacher? Harry looked off to the table that used to be the Slytherin table, and saw Malfoy. At least he hadn’t skipped this meal. Malfoy still looked worried. Harry found himself wanting to hug Draco. Now that was a strange thought. And run his hands through Malfoy’s hair. Where did that come from?

“Harry? Professor Barlow just asked you something.” Hermione pulled him out of his thoughts.

“What? Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought I guess. Could you repeat the question?”

“Sure.” She said, blushing, ever still the fan girl, “Hermione mentioned that you grew up with Muggles, I was just curious what were they like?”

Hermione smiled at him apologetically.

“I don’t really like to talk about them.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you might have some interesting perspective, not many people grow up in the Muggle world and are aware of magic. I assume your relatives were though, since they had to know how your parents died.”

“Well I am not a part of the people who grew up knowing about magic. My relatives knew. I didn’t until Hagrid broke down our door an my eleventh birthday.” Harry said, trying his best to end the conversation.

“Really? How interesting. Did you not know—”

“Can we drop the subject, please.” Harry cut her off.

“Oh I’m sorry.”

Harry did not want to imply that he forgave her. Too many people had pried too far today. “Thank you for the apology.” He turned back to his food and ate in silence.


	15. Draco

His trial had arrived... and Draco was beyond nervous. Of course Pansy, Daphne and Blaise had offered to accompany him, but he refused. He needed to do this on his own. Or rather, he didn’t want them to see him as he was carted off to Azkaban. He was a Malfoy after all, he still had a little bit of pride remaining.

So he sat himself down in the seat of the accused with his head held high. And it stayed that way, even as the chains wound themselves up and around him, even as his heart faltered. They wrapped themselves around his arms and legs, trapping him, pinning him to the chair. He knew he was shaking, but there was nothing to be done for it.

Draco knew there were several people who would be testifying, but he didn’t know who, aside from Potter, of course. Then one of the ministry members was speaking, “We will move forward with our first witness, Amycus Carrow.”

Amycus Carrow strode out, perfectly at ease with the chains entrapping him. He settled himself into an adjacent chair.

The ministry witch spoke again, “Mr. Carrow, you worked at Hogwarts this past year, did you not?”

“I sure did, miss.” He drew out the last word, to make it sound like an insult. 

“And Mr. Malfoy was one of your students, was he not?”

“Yes.”

“And a fellow death eater?”

“Yes.”

“And what actions, befitting a death eater, did you witness him partaking in?”

“He used the cruciatus curse on the other children, the ones who had broken the school rules.”

“And did you tell him to do it?”

“Of course I did.”

“What were your exact words?”

“I dunno.”

“Then paraphrase for us.”

He thought for a moment. “I told him to use it on them or I’d use it on him.”

“So you threatened him?”

“I suppose?”

“You suppose? It is very simple Mr. Carrow, did you or did you not threaten him with pain if he did not inflict it upon the other children?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, that will be all Mr. Carrow, you are dismissed.” He was escorted out by two aurors. “Now for our next witness if you please.” She looked down at something written before her and then said, “Antonin Dolohov.”

Draco’s stomach roiled as one of the higher up death eaters came in. He had four aurors surrounding his and was more heavily chained. Even so, he was unfazed and had a lazy, almost bored expression on his face. Draco shrunk back a little as Dolohov came nearer, in spite of himself. 

The same ministry witch began the questioning once more, “Mr. Dolohov, you were a death eater during the time in which Mr. Malfoy was a death eater, is that correct?”

“I still am a death eater, ain’t no ‘was’ about it. And that little git wasn’t no real death eater. He never did nothing if he wasn’t told twice first.” Dolohov growled, voice raised and Draco flinched a little.

“What sort of things was he told to do?” Asked the ministry witch.

“Punish the Dark Lord’s supporters who had failed him, mostly. He was ordered to kill Dumbledore too.” Dolohov drawled, quieter now, less angry.

“And did he? Kill Dumbledore?” She asked.

“I dunno. Wasn’t there, was I? Bella said Snape did it, Snape said so too.” 

“Thank you, that will be all for now. Our next witness is Narcissa Malfoy.”

Draco’s mother was here? He’d had no idea that she’d be testifying. But there she was, live and in the flesh. She was thinner than when he had last seen her, paler. He was glad to see that she wasn’t in chains.

“You are Mr. Malfoy’s mother, correct?”

“Yes.”

“When was Mr. Malfoy made into a death eater?”

“Draco was given the Dark Mark when my husband, Lucius, failed to acquire the prophecy regarding the Dark Lord and Harry Potter. The Dark Lord set Draco with a task he knew Draco would be unable to do, as punishment, he hoped Draco would die in his attempt to kill Dumbledore.” Draco’s mother explained.

“Your house was You-Know-Who’s home base, yes?”

“Yes.”

The ministry witch nodded and scribbled something down. “Was Mr. Malfoy ever forced to kill anyone?”

“No, he never killed anyone.” It was true, Draco had never killed anyone, though Weasley and Bell had nearly died because of him.

“And your whole family was at the Battle of Hogwarts, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Did Mr. Malfoy fight?”

“I’m not entirely sure, I know he tried to get his wand back from Harry Potter, but I don’t think he fought for either side. After Potter faked his death, the three of us didn’t fight at all. We stayed in the castle after the battle was over, no one seemed to care that we were there.”

“Thank you, you may go, Minerva McGonagall, please.”

The Headmistress strode in and took a seat. Like with his mother, the chains stayed hidden, and didn’t wrap around her. 

“You have been Mr. Malfoy’s teacher for the past eight years?”

“Yes, I taught him transfiguration for the first seven and now I am his Headmistress and the head of his house.” She said calmly. 

“And what did you think of him?”

“He is an incredibly bright student. He always turned in all of his work on time, if not early. He was always rivaling Miss. Granger for the top spot. That is until his sixth year, in which he became distant, distracted and neglectful of his work. He frequently missed classes and looked rather sick. He skipped many of his detentions too and many other teachers saw his grades plummeting. In his seventh year, everyone’s grades were poor, so that isn’t anything to judge by. He returned to school this year to redo the previous one and once again he is back to his previous standards, rivaling Miss Hermione Granger for top spot. He has been quiet and respectful is even the Quidditch captain. He has caused me no trouble and demonstrated none of the death eaters’ ideals.”

“Did you ever think he might become a death eater?”

“I- no! He had been raised on pureblood ideals, he was arrogant and might have thought of himself as superior, but he was never a killer.” 

“Thank you, that will be all.” The witch said, evening out a stack of paper. “Now for our final witness, Mr. Harry Potter, Order of Merlin, First Class, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and peer to Mr. Malfoy.” Draco gulped, this was what he was most nervous for, Potter had a lot on him. This could go very poorly. 

Potter entered the room, confident as always. He didn’t sit, but rather stood behind the chair, resting his forearms on the back of it. 

“Now Mr. Potter, would you please tell us of the crimes Mr. Malfoy has committed.”

“I was under the impression that I could testify as I please. Therefore I will tell you that I do not believe Draco has committed any serious crimes.” The whole courtroom went up in utter tumult, Potter spoke over the noise and slowly it died away. “I was asked to come here to give my thoughts on Draco Malfoy, so I will do as such without interruptions if you please.” Leave it to Potter to turn an interrogation into some kind of speech. The ministry witch who had been doing all of the questioning thus far leaned back in her seat, nonplused. She waved for Potter to continue speaking.

“Draco Malfoy, where do I start? Well I guess I should start with he can’t be all that bad if we can share a room for almost three months without irritating each other too much. I really do think that Draco Malfoy is not a bad person, and he is most certainly not a killer. Most of you do not realize I was on that tower the night Dumbledore died, he was killed by Severus Snape, a form of assisted and dramatic suicide. Even if Snape had not shown up that night, I do not think that Draco would have been able to kill Dumbledore. Draco just isn’t a killer.” Draco was surprised to realize that Harry didn’t seem to hate him after all.

“What I did see Draco do that night was disarm Dumbledore, a fact that helped me overtake Voldemort last May. You see, the elder wand was loyal to Dumbledore up until that time. Late last April, I ended up disarming Draco, leading to me being able to defeat Voldemort even though he had an ‘unbeatable’ wand in his possession.” That bit, Draco had known, Potter had explained that to the Dark Lord in front of everyone, and then again during Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

“Speaking of that day, the reason I even encountered Draco, was that my friends and I were captured by the snatchers. Draco was asked to identify us, I had been hit with a stinging hex that made me less recognizable. I was terrified that we had just been made, that I would have to fight Voldemort then and there. But then, he looked me in the eyes and said ‘It’s not him.’ I knew we were saved, at least long enough to make a plan.” Now that was a little exaggerated, Draco thought. Draco had neither confirmed nor denied that it was Potter. Was Potter lying for him, or did he genuinely remember it wrong?

“The matter of his actions during sixth year, I’ll let you know that he wasn’t the only person that almost killed someone that year. If you were to convict him of attempted murder you’d do well to convict myself as well.” That was fair too, Potter had almost made him bleed out on the bathroom floor that year. “We were young and stupid, still are. He was coerced by Voldemort, his father was in prison, and Voldemort had taken up residence in his home. He hated that he was ordered to kill Dumbledore, the stress left him alone and unable to reach out for help.” More like his pride.

“I know he was marked, and doesn’t have a perfect past, but I don’t think that Draco Malfoy deserves a sentence in Azkaban. He deserves to finish the school year. As his roommate I have never felt uncomfortable sharing a space with him, as one of his teachers this year, he seems to show remorse and is one of the best students I have.”

After a brief recess, it was time for the verdict. Draco stopped breathing. He wouldn’t begin again until it was over, one way or the other, it would be over soon.

“Mr. Malfoy, the pending sentence for your crimes, should you be found guilty for all is five years in Azkaban. Should you be found guilty of minor crimes you will be allowed to return to Hogwarts, and will be placed on house arrest for the following six months. To review, you are being tried for murder of Albus Dumbledore, use of the Unforgivable curses, attempted murder of two of your peers and Professor, and the crime of being a death eater. For the first charge those who say guilty please stand.” Most of the Wizengamot stayed in their seats, still Draco refused to exhale. “Those who say not guilty.” Those who had been seated stood. “Let the record show that Draco Malfoy is not guilty of murder. Use of the Unforgivable curses, those who say guilty please stand.” A lot of people stood, but still there were more sitting. “Those who say he was under duress and should not be considered guilty. Draco Malfoy is not guilty of use of the Unforgivables.”

“Those who say guilty of attempted murder. Those who oppose. The opposition has it, Draco Malfoy is not guilty of three counts of attempted murder.” Draco finally released his breath. Maybe he would be alright after all.

“And finally, those who say Draco Malfoy is guilty of being a Death Eater. And those who believe he is innocent. Let the record show that Draco Malfoy is guilty of being a Death Eater.” That wasn’t a surprise, he had the mark after all, he had sat in all of the meetings, followed the Dark Lord’s orders.

A ministry wizard stood and said, “Draco Malfoy, as you have been found guilty of the crime of being a Death Eater, you are sentenced to six months of probationary house arrest upon your completion of Hogwarts. During your time at Hogwarts, should you choose to visit Hogsmeade you are to be accompanied by an auror, as you will be on the Hogwarts express to return you home for holidays. After your house arrest you will remain on probation for a year with regular check ins from the Ministry. Do you understand.”

It took him a moment to regain his voice. “Yes.”

“The court is now out of session. An auror shall escort Mr. Malfoy back to Hogwarts.” Draco felt like crying when the chains that had been trapping him unraveled. He rubbed his arms, but didn’t stand. 

He watched Harry making his way down the stairs, to him. When Harry reached him, Draco asked, “You helped me?”

“Yes I did. I believe in second chances. And if you were really one of the big bad killer Death Eaters, you likely would have killed me in my sleep by now.” Harry said kindly and Draco wanted to hug him. Harry had saved his life... again. What was this, the third time? “Let’s go back to Hogwarts, I believe we have something to celebrate.” Harry said, offering up his hand. Tentatively, Draco took it and stood.


	16. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit late! I have not seen Tay face to face in a couple of weeks and we were on different pages (haha i made a pun) when we started writing the chapters for this week so if there are any inconsistencies that’s why. But please KINDLY bring them to our attention down in the comments.
> 
> That being said hope you enjoy!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

The day of Malfoy’s trial arrived. As it was on a Friday he and Hermione canceled all of their classes. Harry would go to the trial and Hermione could get in some time to herself, or maybe to her and Ron.

Harry woke up early, and noticed that Malfoy was already gone. He likely left early so as not to draw attention, Harry didn’t blame him for that.

Harry quickly headed down to Hogsmeade and dissapparated to the Ministry. Thankfully, with the end of the war came the ability for people to apparate into the Ministry once again.

He got his wand checked and then made his way down to the courtrooms. He was running a bit behind that day because he had decided to dress up for the occasion. He had on a dark green button down, to show his support for the Slytherin and to make his eyes stand out, black trousers, and a matching dress robe. Even his hair had decided to behave that day.

He pushed the door to the courtroom open and stepped through. All eyes turned to him while he fought the urge to roll his own. He briskly walked to the place where the witnesses and character advocates sat. He quickly took his seat between McGonagall and Narcissa Malfoy, who had an auror seated on her other side.

“You’re late.” Whispered McGonagall.

“I needed to make an entrance didn’t I? Besides the trial hasn’t even started yet.” He gave a smirk. He didn’t know when he started viewing McGonagall as a colleague over an authority figure, but she didn’t seem to mind.

He leaned back and stared ahead, waiting for the trial to start.

At nine on the dot the Ministry witch in charge of the trial started through her spiel. Harry mostly tuned it out, it was pretty much just stuff for the records and he had heard a version of it at every trial he had attended thus far. After that was over the doors banged open and in came Malfoy. He was being escorted by a pair of aurors who stood at a respectable distance from him. Malfoy held his head high and sat in the designated chair. Chains came up and bound his arms and legs.

One of the members announced Amycus Carrow who came in and testified, though all he said was that he threatened Draco into using the cruciatus curse. Dolohov was then led in and he basically insulted Draco the whole time.

Next up was Narcissa. She mostly spoke about her family’s actions during the battle of Hogwarts and admitted to Voldemort using the manor as a home base.

McGonagall went after Narcissa. She strode over to the chair Narcissa had just vacated and sat down. “You have been Mr. Malfoy’s teacher for the past eight years?” The Ministry witch prompted.

“Yes, I taught him transfiguration for the first seven and now I am his Headmistress and the head of his house.” McGonagall answered coolly.

“And what did you think of him?”

“He is an incredibly bright student. He always turned in all of his work on time, if not early. He was always rivaling Miss. Granger for the top spot. That is until his sixth year, in which he became distant, distracted and neglectful of his work. He frequently missed classes and looked rather sick. He skipped many of his detentions too and many other teachers saw his grades plummeting. In his seventh year, everyone’s grades were poor, so that isn’t anything to judge by. He returned to school this year to redo the previous one and once again he is back to his previous standards, rivaling Miss Hermione Granger for top spot. He has been quiet and respectful is even the Quidditch captain. He has caused me no trouble and demonstrated none of the Death Eaters’ ideals.”

“Did you ever think he might become a death eater?”

“I- no! He had been raised on pureblood ideals, he was arrogant and might have thought of himself as superior, but he was never a killer.”

“Thank you, that will be all.”

Harry was astounded that no one had interrupted her. She returned to her seat and then it was his turn.

“And now we will hear from Mr. Harry Potter, Order of Merlin, First Class, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and peer to Mr. Malfoy.”

He internally sighed as the Witch listed off his achievements. He stood up anyway and entered the witness area head held high. He chose to stand behind the chair, he had had enough of sitting to day and he needed to make an impact.

“Now Mr. Potter, would you please tell us of the crimes Mr. Malfoy has committed.”

“I was under the impression that I could testify as I please. Therefore I will tell you that I do not believe Draco has committed any serious crimes.”

The courtroom went up into chaos.

Harry started again once order had been restored, “I was asked to come here to give my thoughts on Draco Malfoy, so I will do as such without interruptions if you please.

“Draco Malfoy, where do I start? Well I guess I should start with he can’t be all that bad if we can share a room for almost three months without irritating each other too much. I really do think that Draco Malfoy is not a bad person, and he is most certainly not a killer. Most of you do not realize I was on that tower the night Dumbledore died, he was killed by Severus Snape, a form of assisted and dramatic suicide. Even if Snape had not shown up that night, I do not think that Draco would have been able to kill Dumbledore. Draco just isn’t a killer.

“What I did see Draco do that night was disarm Dumbledore, a fact that helped me overtake Voldemort last May. You see, the elder wand was loyal to Dumbledore up until that time. Late last April, I ended up disarming Draco, leading to me being able to defeat Voldemort even though he had an ‘unbeatable’ wand in his possession.

“Speaking of that day, the reason I even encountered Draco, was that my friends and I were captured by the snatchers. Draco was asked to identify us, I had been hit with a stinging hex that made me less recognizable. I was terrified that we had just been made, that I would have to fight Voldemort then and there. But then, he looked me in the eyes and said ‘It’s not him.’ I knew we were saved, at least long enough to make a plan.”

He paused, the Ministry witch prompted him with the question, “Didn’t his attempts to murder Dumbledore nearly kill two of your housemates, including your best friend?”

“Ah, yes, the matter of his actions during sixth year, I’ll let you know that he wasn’t the only person that almost killed someone that year. If you were to convict him of attempted murder you’d do well to convict myself as well. We were young and stupid, still are. He was coerced by Voldemort, his father was in prison, and Voldemort had taken up residence in his home. He hated that he was ordered to kill Dumbledore, the stress left him alone and unable to reach out for help. I witnessed him having a breakdown from the pressure he was feeling.”

“As his one of his teachers and peers how would you feel about him returning to Hogwarts?” The witch seemed irritated by his supportive testimony.

“I know he was marked, and doesn’t have a perfect past, but I don’t think that Draco Malfoy deserves a sentence in Azkaban. He deserves to finish the school year. As his roommate I have never felt uncomfortable sharing a space with him, as one of his teachers this year, he seems to show remorse and is one of the best students I have.” Harry finished and returned to his seat.

“Thank you.” Narcissa whispered into his ear when he sat down.

“People deserve second chances.” Was all he replied.

Finally it was time for the verdict. The Ministry witch spoke to Draco directly for the first time that day. “Mr. Malfoy, the pending sentence for your crimes, should you be found guilty for all is five years in Azkaban. Should you be found guilty of minor crimes you will be allowed to return to Hogwarts, and will be placed on house arrest for the following six months. To review, you are being tried for murder of Albus Dumbledore, use of the Unforgivable curses, attempted murder of two of your peers and Professor, and the crime of being a death eater.

“For the first charge those who say guilty please stand.” Harry glanced around at the Wizengamot. Most of them had remained seated. That was good. Killing Dumbledore was the worst charge.

“Those who say not guilty.” She seemed to stare directly at Harry, knowing that he was the only reason so many thought Draco innocent. Yet all the other members stood. The witch frowned. “Let the record show that Draco Malfoy is not guilty of murder. Use of the Unforgivable curses, those who say guilty please stand.” A lot more stood, but from what Harry could tell they were still in the minority.

“Those who say he was under duress and should not be considered guilty.” She paused to count, “Draco Malfoy is not guilty of use of the Unforgivables. Those who say guilty of attempted murder.” Harry glanced at Malfoy. Malfoy seemed to be slowly starting to breathe again. “Those who oppose.” The witch paused to count again. “The opposition has it, Draco Malfoy is not guilty of three counts of attempted murder.”

Harry felt Narcissa relax a bit next to him.

“And finally, those who say Draco Malfoy is guilty of being a Death Eater.” Quite a lot of people stood up. Harry realized that there was no way Malfoy could get away without this charge. “And those who believe he is innocent.” A handful of people stood up. “Let the record show that Draco Malfoy is guilty of being a Death Eater.”

Another member of the Ministry stood and declared the final verdict. “Draco Malfoy, as you have been found guilty of the crime of being a Death Eater, you are sentenced to six months of probationary house arrest upon your completion of Hogwarts. During your time at Hogwarts, should you choose to visit Hogsmeade you are to be accompanied by an auror, as you will be on the Hogwarts express to return you home for holidays. After your house arrest you will remain on probation for a year with regular check ins from the Ministry. Do you understand.”

“Yes.” Draco said. It was the first word he had spoken all day.

“The court is now out of session. An auror shall escort Mr. Malfoy back to Hogwarts.”

The chains around Malfoy unraveled themselves and Harry made his way up to meet his roommate.

“You helped me?” Malfoy said. He still sat in the chair, finally able to relax.

“Yes I did. I believe in second chances. And if you were really one of the big bad killer Death Eaters, you likely would have killed me in my sleep by now.” Harry smirked.

Draco smiled.

“Let’s go back to Hogwarts, I believe we have something to celebrate.” Harry smiled and reached out his hand.

Draco took it and stood up. They exited the room, tailed by an auror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to leave comments and kudos they feed out souls!


	17. Draco

Draco let go of Harry’s hand the moment they had crossed over the threshold of the room he had been tried in. It was as though he was only just coming back to his senses, as the relief that had been clouding his judgment cleared away. It was like being doused in freezing cold water, leaving him numb and painfully aware, all at the same time. _He had touched Harry!_ No, he had touched Potter... and he hadn’t been disgusted by it. It hadn’t been to taunt or harm him either. What was wrong with him? Potter was his enemy, foe not friend.

But Potter had just saved his ass... again. And Potter didn’t seem to hate him after all. They had been roommates for months now and had never even fought. Maybe they weren’t enemies anymore. Something had certainly shifted between them, if not at the start of the year, then surely now, after the trial.

And there was no denying that Ha- Potter was attractive... very attractive. Draco forced his thoughts out of the gutter and refocused his attention to the world around him. Potter was looking at him, his expression unreadable. Draco met his eyes for a moment before looking away. If he held eye contact for too long, he might have given away his feelings with the telltale tinting of his cheeks.

“Do we have to celebrate?” Draco asked exasperatedly.

Potter offered a mock glare and said, “Of course we do, you aren’t going to Azkaban.”

Draco snorted and crossed his arms, leaning against the polished marble that made up this portion of the Ministry wall. He raised his eyebrows ever so slightly and a smile tugged at the edge of his mouth as he looked at Potter. “And how do you expect us to celebrate?” Draco asked, gesturing to the auror who had positioned himself a few meters behind him.

Potter wheeled around to face the auror and said silkily, “I’ve got him from here.” Draco’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

The auror said, “I have orders to take Mr. Malfoy directly back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

Potter sighed and grabbed Draco’s arm, “Then I guess we will just have to celebrate in the common room.”

Draco groaned, “Must we though?”

“Yes, we must.” Potter insisted.

***

When they reached the common room, all of the eighth years were waiting for them. Food and drinks littered the circular room, strewn across desks, tables and sofas. Everyone stared at them expectantly and Draco froze, unsure of what to do. His eyes darted across the faces and he soon realized that it wasn’t only eighth years filling the room. He saw Ginevra Weasley there, Lovegood too, Astoria, and many others from every house.

“Well?” Pansy asked, her voice ringing throughout the otherwise silent room.

“I’m not going to Azkaban,” Draco muttered, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. The common room erupted into whoops and hollers. People were patting him on the back and congratulating him and he didn’t know who the limbs belonged to, but everyone was touching him. It reminded him of the reaction Harry- Potter, had gotten when he’d killed He Who Must Not Be Named.

It was odd to compare Draco escaping punishment to Potter defeating the most terrible wizard of all time, but alas, here he was.

Drinks were shoved into his hands and in spite of himself he choked it down. His head began to swim as the alcohol took over. Slowly, people began to leave, either stumbling up the stairs or through the portrait hole and back to their own common rooms. Some people had fallen asleep on the various sofas, and a few were even passed out on the floor.

Draco was scrunched between Pansy and Blaise, the latter was asleep with his head on Draco’s shoulder, drool pooling in the corner of his mouth. After an indiscernible amount of time, Pansy hauled Blaise up and half dragged, half carried him to his dorm room, leaving Draco alone.

He sighed to himself and watched the flames from a nearby candle, dancing and weaving itself through the air. He didn’t know how long he watched it for, and he lost count of how much alcohol he had consumed, but he only stopped drinking and staring, when the light of the candle dimmed and extinguished completely.

The contents of his stomach nearly emptied themselves when he stood, but he managed to keep them down as he staggered up to his room. Potter was there, sitting on his bed and massaging his temples.

Draco collapsed onto his own bed and stared at Potter unabashedly. “How are you so hot?” He asked Potter, his voice slurred. Potter’s eyes snapped up and he squinted at Draco.

“You’re drunk.” He said flatly.

“Am not.” Draco retorted, scrunching up his nose.

“Yes you are, go to sleep before you say something stupid.” Potter said.

“Are you drunk?” Draco asked him.

“Yes,” He said, “But not as drunk as you. And I’m just a better drunk.”

“Why do you have to be so good at everything?” Draco groaned. “Perfect Potter, you always have to one up me in everything, even being drunk.”

Potter crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, a smile danced across his lips. “Is that what you think I’m doing? Trying to beat you? I don’t care Draco, I don’t care if you win, life isn’t a competition, at least not for me.”

“That makes it even worse! You’re so perfect at everything without even trying! With your hair and your eyes and your Quidditch!”

“What about my hair? And eyes?” Potter asked, clearly amused.

“They’re just so perfect.” Draco said, getting more and more worked up with each word. Then he muttered something that Potter almost missed, but not quite. “Makes it so hard to not kiss you.”

Draco heard Potter’s sharp intake of breath and knew he hadn’t been quiet enough. But what did they say about alcohol, ah yes, _liquid courage_. And Draco intended to use it to its full extent. So, without another word, he stood and crossed the room, placed his hand against Potter’s chin, cupped his face, tilted it up and then they were kissing. And unless the alcohol was making him hallucinate, which could very well be the case, Potter was kissing him back.

But after a few moments, what was happening hit him. They were both drunk, Potter seemed to realize it at the same time and they both pulled away.

“We’re drunk,” Potter whispered.

“I know,” Draco said, just as softly, the slur punctuating his statement.

“Let’s just sleep it off, we can talk in the morning.”

But when the morning came around, neither remembered what had happened when they woke. The only thing they had to show from the night was a pounding headache and a terrible hangover.


	18. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was so late!!!  
> Tay didn’t have internet and I spent most of the afternoon watching Wizards Tales of Arcadia with a friend. Anyway, that kiss in the last chapter was something, lets see what develops in this one!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

With the trial out of the way the eighth years first quidditch match came rather quickly. They were set to play the Gryffindors, captained by Ginny this year. Harry was actually really excited for the game regardless of that pre game pit in his stomach.

Gryffindor’s new seeker was a third year, one he had actually made a reserve for himself back in sixth year. That meant that she had quite a bit of talent and he might struggle to beat her, he didn’t mind though he liked a challenge.

He also had a few new tricks up his sleeve this year. Draco had taught him them during practices, he even ran a few drills with Harry occasionally. Harry chose not to dwell on that too much as he sat down at the staff table for lunch before the match. Of course he had lunch duty before the big game today, that was just how his life went.

He didn’t have much of a chance to focus on that though, next to him Hermione was panicking. which made sense because, one, it was Hermione, and two, hadn’t he done the same before his first match?

“Hermione, you’ll be fine. Shockingly enough I think that you and Parkinson are the most prepared people on the team.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, since that girls night you two had a few weeks ago you’ve really been in sync. I know you probably feel like puking right now, but at least eat some toast and have some water, otherwise you won’t have any energy for he game.”

“Okay.” She smiled weakly.

The team walked together down to the quidditch pitch. Blaise and Hannah were discussing something together and had been since breakfast. Padma was in her own little bubble of solitude. Hermione and Pansy were drilling each other on plays leaving Harry and Malfoy walking beside each other at the back of the group.

“It’s got to be awkward playing your girlfriend.” Malfoy said in an awkward attempt at conversation.

“She’s not my girlfriend anymore.” Harry said plainly.

“Really? You’d think the gossip magazines would have been all over that break up.”

“It’s not like that, we both decided we wanted other things. She wanted to try girls for a while, I decided I would stick with guys for the rest of time.”

“Oh. I still think that the gossip magazines would have been all over that.” Draco smirked.

“Well, I haven’t really talked about it with anyone besides Ginny. And now you.”

Draco nodded.

“You’re not uncomfortable are you?”

“Not really, otherwise I would be a bit of a hypocrite.”

Did Malfoy just tell him that he was gay? Why did Harry’s heart flutter at that thought?

By the time they had reached the changing rooms, the rest of the team was already in their gray and purple Quidditch robes. The team went in to change and gathered in the middle for Draco to give them a pep talk.

“Alright everyone. We haven’t been practicing for hours on end, just to lose to Gryffindor. So get out there and kick their asses.” Draco said.

The team cheered and started to make their way to the pitch. Harry gave his new purple and gray uniform a last once over before stepping onto the field. Madam Hooch stood in the middle as a referee, and Ginny and Draco shook hands. The flying Professor whistled and fourteen brooms took to the sky, Draco quickly jogged off the pitch to the sidelines where he would direct the team from.

Harry kept his eyes open, looking for the snitch. Every once in a while he glanced around and looked not see if Draco had signaled a play or if the Gryffindor seeker, Layla Andrews he believed her name was, had spotted the snitch.

Soon enough into the game Harry heard the familiar tune of ‘Weasley is our King’ coming from where he knew the remaining eight eighth years sat. They must have sonorused their voices, or maybe were joined by one of the other houses rooting for the eighth years because they were loud enough to be heard over the crowd of students.

Harry wasn’t sure when the eighth years had found the time to decide to use the song that the Gryffindors had made improvements on when they stole it from the Slytherins. But he was glad Ron was getting some confidence from their classmates.

It was nearly a half hour later that Harry finally spotted the snitch. It was hovering just by Malfoy, almost exactly what the snitch at tryouts, why did the snitches like Draco so much?

Harry made to dive for the snitch, a moment later Layla noticed and followed. The snitch had buzzed around towards the Gryffindor goal posts and Harry made a sharp turn and followed. Layla, who was earlier in her dive, was able to pull away quicker and had nearly caught up by the time he reached the goal posts where the golden ball had started hovering. Or at least Harry had thought it had. It had disappeared once more.

He returned to a higher altitude and looked around. He narrowly dodged a stray Bludger, which Hermione soon flew by to go and hit. Then he spotted the snitch again. This time hovering by the goalposts Ron was guarding.

Luckily that was right on his usual lap around the top of the playing area. He put on just a hair more speed than usual and as he passed by he reached out and plucked the unsuspecting snitch from the air. He made Ron nearly fall off his broom in the process, because Harry had had to get closer to the goals than usual.

Harry lifted the snitch into the air above his head, signaling that the game was over and the eighth years had won.

He looked down to Draco as he went to land, who smiled at him.

“Well done, Potter.”

“Only because I had a good coach, Malfoy.”

“Party in the eighth year common room!” Cried Ron and the sixteen students that had gathered to celebrate on the field dispersed to celebrate elsewhere.


	19. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one this week. :) I hope you like it!
> 
> — Tay

Another party, this wasn’t good. Not for Draco, at least, seeing as there was so much alcohol. But he was determined to remain sober... or at least sober enough to remember what went on in the morning. So, he stayed far away from the table of drinks throughout the party. That was until he saw Harry disappear from the party. He had given up on calling him Potter in his mind, but not yet in his speech.

He decided one glass of beer was necessary for what he intended to do. What was it they called it? Liquid courage. He downed it in one gulp. He felt warmth spread through his body, and he breathed in, long and slow, gathering his nerve. He took a step, and paused. He couldn’t do this, how could he possibly do this? He needed to be brave. But he was so afraid. Wasn’t that what bravery was though, doing what was needed in spite of the fear?

He took another step forward and stopped yet again. What was the point? Harry surely wouldn’t accept him. Draco knew who he was and he wasn’t worthy of Harry, not in the slightest. He was Draco Malfoy, a convicted criminal, a death eater, the son of a death eater... a coward. And yet, Harry had protected him anyway, been on his side anyway.

Draco stepped forward once again and froze. Maybe that was just who Harry was. Maybe Harry just wanted to save everyone, it didn’t mean anything. But still, Harry had deemed him as something worth saving.

Another step. And this time, he forced himself to keep on walking. Before he could lose the little courage he had, he opened the door to their dorm and strode inside.

“Potter,” He greeted.

“Draco,” Harry returned easily. He was sitting with his back to Draco, an essay in his lap, his gaze focused on some far off point in the Forbidden Forest.

“Listen, Potter... Harry,” Draco began, and Harry turned around, looking him full in the face. His heart stuttered in his chest, but he managed to hold onto his courage. Harry’s eyes were soft, and so very kind, welcoming whatever it was that Draco intended to say. It was calming and in a sense made him braver. It was like the Gryffindor in Harry was rolling off him in waves and rubbing off onto Draco. “There’s something I need to say.”

“Well go on then,” Harry prompted expectantly. He crossed his arms, but it wasn’t in an imposing way nor threatening at all. Everything about Harry’s stance demonstrated openness, to Draco, who knew Harry’s body language better than he should have. Better than any roommate should have. “Anytime now.” Harry said, smiling slightly.

“Sorry, I just,” Better to get right to it instead of dancing around the truth. “I really like you Harry, like, like you, like you.” Draco stammered out in a rush of hurried, nervous words.

“Draco, you’re drunk, go to sleep.” Harry said.

“No, I’m not, and I’m serious. I only had one drink, I swear.” Draco swore.

Harry sighed. “We’ll talk in the morning, Draco. Go to bed.”

Draco groaned and flopped himself onto his bed.

When he woke up the next morning, Harry was gone. It had been too much for him to hope that Harry would like him too. And what had he been imagining, some epic revelation on Harry’s part resulting in a long make out session? Of course not. But he had hoped for something, not this silence, this avoiding him.

Was Harry avoiding him? Or was Draco just being paranoid? Draco wouldn’t put it past himself to be being absurdly paranoid. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t done it before.

But he was so confused.


	20. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s Appie’s chapter, enjoy!
> 
> —Tay
> 
> Hey all I actually wrote this before Friday! What a concept!! Got some interesting stuff for y’all this week.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Harry had left the party in the common room early. Sure he was the one that won the game, but he had hall duty in the wee hours of the morning, so he was decidedly one of the only two sober ones at the party. The other one being Hermione who also was covering the early morning shift.

He was up in his room grading a couple third year essays in the window seat when Malfoy came in.

“Potter.”

Harry looked up at Draco who was staring at him, “Draco.”

“Listen Potter... Harry.” Draco had called him Harry? That was new, Draco hadn’t even called him that in class. Though Harry wasn’t sure that he minded all that much, “There’s something I need to say.”

Draco was silent for a moment “Well go on then.” Harry needed to get back to his grading, he wanted to finish this one before he went to bed, “Anytime now.”

“Sorry, I just,” Malfoy inhaled, “I really like you Harry, like, like you, like you.”

“Draco, you’re drunk, go to sleep.” Harry tried, he wasn’t quite in the headspace for this conversation, not yet at least.

“No, I’m not, and I’m serious. I only had one drink, I swear.”

“We’ll talk in the morning, Draco. Go to bed.”

He put away his grading, which apparently would have to wait until tomorrow, turned out the light, and fell asleep before he could ponder what Draco had just said.

His wand alarm woke him up just in time to meet Hermione for hall duty. She had wrapped a heavy blanket around herself over her clothes to beat the chill of the castle in late November. Harry had simply cast a warming charm on himself. They met Flitwick in the entrance hall and the professor went up to bed.

“You ok ‘Mione? You seem down.” Harry asked his friend as they took off down one of the halls. They really weren’t supposed to be on the same route, but they had the Marauder’s Map to lead them to any misbehaving students, so they walked together.

“After you left the party Ron and I had a big fight over me being on the quidditch team. He was being drunk and stupid, he thought I wasn’t good enough and that I should ‘stick to the books’ or some shit.”

Harry knew it was bad if Hermione was swearing, “You know you’re one of the best players we’ve got right? You and Pansy are almost as good as the twins were.” Not the best reminder at the moment, but it was all he had to go off of. “You okay?”

“Yeah, Neville actually helped me talk him down. He’s come quite far in terms of confidence.” She stared off, her face going to its most natural state, the Hermione thinking face, “I noticed Draco headed up early too.”

Harry remembered the conversation he had had with Malfoy, “Yeah,” Harry then tried to distract himself by checking the Marauder’s map.

“And?”

Harry gave her a look.

“You know I can tell when you’re leaving something out.”

“Well, er, he and I talked for a bit, and...” Harry trailed off.

“What else?” Hermione’s interest seemed piqued.

“He said he liked me.” Harry blushed, he hoped she couldn’t see in the dimly lit hall. “And I think it was more than a friend way.”

“Oh. Do you like him?”

“I— what?” How did she know that he was gay?

Hermione must have been tuned into Harry’s internal dialogue because she then said, “Harry, everyone else, including Ron, may be oblivious to the fact that you are not straight, but I figured it out back in fourth year, you had a crush on Krum and one on Cedric. Also it didn’t work out with Ginny and neither of you seemed bothered by it. Also, just for the record, I don’t care, you’re still you, Harry.”

“Oh.” Harry smiled and blushed some more. “Well, I don’t know if I like Draco or not. Even if I do, I’m not sure that Draco would want to act on his feelings. We’ve shared a room for almost a whole term and he only said it after he was extremely drunk.”

Hermione pulled her blanket a little tighter, it had gotten a bit cooler as they were nearing a hall with quite a few of the ghosts.

“Does he know that you like guys?” She asked.

“Yes. We actually discussed it yesterday on our way down to the match, we were talking about Ginny and it just kind of came up.”

Hermione let out a small laugh, “Ron’s gonna be mad that Draco found out before him.”

“You think I should tell Ron soon?”

“Yes, preferably before you act on whatever you feel towards Draco. He’ll react badly if he finds out both at once, you know he doesn’t handle change well. And I know you feel something, don’t think I didn’t notice you have been saying ‘Draco’ this whole time.”

Harry gave her a slight shove. She responded with a shove of her own.

“We should get moving, I want to drop off my blanket before breakfast.” She smiled and the two made their way back to the dorms in silence.

Sunday breakfast in the great hall was always bustling. Harry and Hermione sat with Hagrid at the staff table talking about a new generation of bowtruckles that had just been born on a tree near Hagrid’s hut. He was concerned because the bowtruckles were too young to make it through the winter without help. Harry was simply glad that Hagrid’s new creature project was not dangerous this time around.

Harry couldn’t help but notice Draco hadn’t come down for breakfast. Of course Hermione noticed that he noticed and gave him a look.

Draco still hadn’t come down by the time breakfast duty was finished. Harry snagged some toast, an apple, and a bottle of pumpkin juice to take up to Draco.

Harry went into their room and found Draco sitting on the edge of his bed, staring straight ahead.

“I brought you some food.” Harry said.

“Thanks.” Draco bit into the apple.

“I have to know did you mean it?”

“Er, I—” Draco paused. “No.”

Harry was pretty sure Draco wasn’t telling the truth, but he left it alone, “Ok, we’ll just chalk it up to the alcohol and forget it happened.”

Draco smiled, then grabbed his bathroom bag and left the room, leaving Harry to finish the grading he had started the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m on Tumblr at @/ appalyneinstitute1 if y’all want to go check my blog out. I take Drabble requests there if you have an interest.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie


	21. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it’s a little late. My fault completely. Appie had her chapter ready on time, meanwhile I procrastinated and then had writer’s block when I actually sat down to write it. Sorry about that! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> —Tay

Why the fuck had he gone and lied to Harry? This had been the perfect opportunity to tell him the truth and he had gone and messed it up again. Would he ever cease being a coward? Probably not.

Draco did his very best to avoid Harry at all costs. He had risen before Harry every morning, which was quite a feat considering that Harry had to wake up at incomprehensible, ungodly hours of the morning to patrol the corridors in search of unruly students. He would hide himself way, usually beneath the staircase that led up to their dorm rooms. He waited to enter the Great Hall until Harry had already seated himself, so as to be sure to sit as far away as physically possible. He sat on the opposite side of the room for every lesson and waited to enter their dorm for the evening, until he could be sure that Harry was asleep.

But he couldn’t skip out on Defense Against the Dark Arts, it could be bad for his record, he didn’t need a detention. So, though Draco didn’t want to, he entered Defense Against the Dark Arts for class that Friday. And even worse, Harry would see through any lie he managed to concoct. There would definitely be a confrontation as a result, something Draco was desperate to steer clear of.

Draco was shocked when he found that the class would be focused around occlumency and legilimency, for the next few lessons. This was something Draco was rather skilled at and Harry... let’s just say it wasn’t one of Harry’s strengths. Granger, on the other hand had mastered it with ease within a few mere weeks. Draco still had trouble sometimes comprehending how Granger had ended up in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw.

Individually, Hermione moved around the room, sparring with each until she was satisfied that they had the basic grasp of it. Then she would pair them with someone else to spar amongst themselves. Draco had been so distracted watching her that he failed to notice as Harry sidled up to his side.

“So, this is probably really boring for you, huh?” He asked, grinning broadly. It was as though they had never had their previous conversation at all.

“Why do you figure that?” Draco asked, trying for nonchalance and failing spectacularly.

“Aside from the look of utter boredom on your face? I was in the astronomy tower at the end of our sixth year and better yet I was spying on you for the entire thing. I know that you mastered both occlumency and legilimency.” He said, and was that a faint blush staining his cheeks? Perhaps it was just the lighting... or Draco’s imagination... or his mind playing tricks on him, making him see what he wanted to see. But was that what he wanted to see? Did he want Harry to be blushing at him? His mind and feelings towards the boy who lived were a jumbled mess that would take weeks, maybe even months to unravel. And even then, would he ever act on what he discovered?

But that was not a problem for now. He had to keep his thoughts to the present. A present in which he was standing beside Harry in the frigid air of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, trying to hold a conversation.

Yet again, his thoughts drifted away from the task at hand, even as he responded. “Creep.”

He thought back to every single Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher he had ever had. Quirrell was dead. Lockhart was living in a hospital, with no memory of who he was, still just as conceded as ever. Lupin was dead, as was his girlfriend, or wife, whatever she was, leaving their son an orphan. The next one had been Moody, or rather, Barty Crouch Junior. Which one should he consider to be his actual teacher? Oh well, it didn’t matter anyhow, both of them were dead. Umbridge, the bitch, was to live out the rest of her days in Azkaban, though granted it was without the dementors. Snape was dead and so was Carrow. It was as though the position was cursed. Some people’s fates had taken a while to catch up with them, others had died on the job, but in the end, none were ‘living the dream’ as they would say.

“Have you ever noticed that none of our Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers lasted longer than a year?” Draco asked Harry, still looking at Hermione. For, he knew it he looked at Harry, made eye contact with him, stared into those bright green eyes, he would never be able to look away, never be able to let go. And he desperately needed to let go.

“Voldemort cursed the position, the curse broke when he died, so Hermione and I could stay as long as we wanted.” Harry explained.

“And will you?” Draco asked, “Stay, I mean.”

“I don’t know yet, I always wanted to be an auror, well ever since fourth year that is. Crouch Junior, the death eater, was actually the one to suggest it to me in the first place. And I don’t know, it just kind of stuck. But now, I really like teaching, its just a lot. Especially If Hermione decides to move on to something else. Then I would have to teach all by myself, and I am not sure if I am ready for that. But do I really want to be a co-teacher for the rest of my life? It’s just odd, it’s an odd situation. But I still have six months to figure it out, so we will see.”

Draco had not expected such a long answer, and could think of no appropriate response, so he merely nodded his head in vague agreement.

“So,” Harry said after a moment of silence. “What do you plan to do after Hogwarts?”

Draco shrugged, “I thought I was going to Azkaban. Didn’t really do a whole lot of career planning in the midst of all that.”

To Draco’s surprise, Harry laughed.


	22. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is Appie’s chapter! Enjoy!
> 
> —Tay :)
> 
> Don’t blame Tay too much for it being late she’s got a lot going on right now.
> 
> Also warning about half of this chapter is a list of Christmas presents!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

It was after class one Friday early in December that Harry decided to tell Ron. The eighth years had Defense last on Fridays and Ron usually hung out while Harry and Hermione finished off getting the room ready for the next week of classes. Today Hermione was helping out one of the second years in their office, so Harry was able to talk to Ron by himself.

Ron was standing on the dueling mat fooling around with cool dueling poses, none of which were the least bit practical.

“Hey, Ron?” Harry asked, “Can I talk to you for a bit?”

“This sounds serious, everything alright?” Ron came over and sat on a desk in the front row of the class, facing Harry who sat on his desk.

“Yeah, actually. Do you remember how I didn’t tell you why Ginny and I broke up?”

Ron nodded, frowning at the memory.

“I told you it wasn’t working out and that’s because...” Harry trailed off for a minute to take a breath, “I’m gay.”

Ron stared at Harry for a minute, as if he was trying to see if Harry was lying. Then Harry saw the wheels turning in Ron’s head, like he was trying to piece together something.

“I’m an idiot.” Ron said with a small smile, “I should have seen it earlier.”

Harry didn’t really know how to respond, so he let Ron continue.

“You gawked at Bill the first time you met him, you’re barely affected by Veela, you stared at Cedric a little too much, and were extremely shaken after he died, though I don’t blame you for that, and then you were totally obsessed with Malfoy back in sixth year. Honestly I don’t really care who you date, never have, so long as it’s not him or someone in it for the attention. Though I trust you to be able to find the guys that don’t care about the boy-who-lived stuff.”

Harry smiled, “I- thanks Ron. You’re a good friend.”

The Malfoy bit was hard to take, but Ron would come around. Wait. He didn’t really have a shot with Draco anyway. Draco had told him outright that he didn’t like him. That thought made Harry almost frown. But he still wasn’t sure how he felt about Draco anyway, or was he sure?

The thoughts fled Harry’s mind as Hermione brought out the second year and escorted her to the hallway.

She slid onto the desk next to Ron and rested her head on his shoulder “You boys have your little talk?”

“Yeah.” Harry said, grinning.

“You knew?” Ron asked.

“She figured it out for herself.” Harry said.

“Who else knows?” Ron asked, “I don’t want to screw up and blab it to someone who will tell the papers.”

“For one Ginny. I’m pretty sure Luna just knows, she’s like that about these inner self type things. And Draco.”

“Why the hell does Malfoy know?” Ron asked.

“They are roommates Ronald! It makes sense that Harry would share his sexuality with someone he shares a living space with.”

“How’d the ferret take it?”

“He came out to me about thirty seconds later, so I’d say he’s fine with it.” Shit. He really shouldn’t of said that. Draco didn’t trust Ron, and the jury was out on Hermione. “But do not let him know I told you. He will likely seek vengeance if he found out I told you without his permission.”

Ron made the lip zip motion and Hermione nodded.

“We should get going Ron, sorry to ditch you here Har, but it’s date night.” Hermione said after a moment of silence.

“Don’t worry, I was planning on heading to Hogsmeade to get some Christmas shopping out of the way before the crowds came in, otherwise too many people will want to give their loved ones autographs instead of thoughtful gifts.” Harry winked.

The two headed out of the room holding hands and grinning like idiots.

Harry draped the invisibility cloak over himself so he wouldn’t be detected on his way into town. One of the benefits of his junior teacher, and probably his war hero, status was that he could head into Hogsmeade whenever he wished.

He went to a little jewelry shop to buy some nice, but not overly expensive earrings for Hermione, who had decided to get a second set of piercings over the summer. He also got a nice pin for Mrs. Weasley, and an everblooming flower crown for Luna. Next he meandered towards Zonko’s for something for Ron. He had already ordered a Muggle dart board for Ginny, a set of watercolors for George who had taken up painting in the wake of Fred’s death, and some Muggle records (including ones in French) for Bill and Fleur who already had a record player. He had gotten both Mr. Weasley and Charlie Muggle radios. Though Mr. Weasley’s was the most modern design so he could have fun picking it apart and Charlie’s was more similar to the design of a Wizarding wireless.

He stopped in a book shop getting books for Percy and Andromeda, who he would visit tomorrow while the students were in Hogsmeade, and he got a bunch of magical and muggle children’s stories for Teddy.

After that he was pretty sure he had covered his bases. The eighth year Gryffindors had put together a gift for McGonagall, but Hermione was in charge of that. He would go closer to the actual holiday to get sweets for the rest of the eighth years.

Shouldn’t Draco get a gift? Harry thought. They were after all roommates, and maybe even friends.

The only problem was that Harry had absolutely zero idea of what to get Draco. He shared a room with him for months, they had woken each other up from nightmares, and even successfully not killed each other. Yet, Harry’s mind drew a blank.

That wouldn’t be too much of a problem if there wasn’t that part of him that wanted to impress Draco and woo him.

Harry realized in that moment that he was utterly screwed.


	23. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so two changes in terms of updates, Tay and I are starting to have lives and stuff again so we are doing one chapter a week and switching off weeks. Also we’re switching the order in which we do our chapters. 
> 
> Sorry we missed last week, we had some things going on.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna shared a compartment on the train ride back from King’s Cross. Hermione and Neville were deep into discussion about some plant and Ginny and Luna were curled up next to each other by the window. Ron was still oblivious to the fact that Luna and Ginny were most certainly an item, and Harry wasn’t gonna state the obvious.

Harry got up to stretch his legs about halfway through the day. He wandered through the hallway that had students running to and from their compartments. When he got to the back of the car he noticed an auror standing outside the last compartment, out of which came Draco a moment later, Harry nearly running into him.

“Sorry.” Draco said.

“Don’t be I wasn’t looking. You wanna walk with me for a bit?”

“So long as you don’t mind my tail.” Draco frowned, tilting his head at the auror.

“Seriously, on the train? What are they even expecting you to do?”

“No idea. But he is to escort me to the manor, then put a shit ton of tracking spell on me to make sure I don’t leave the property. Mother already has the spells on her and there is always an auror on the property somewhere.”

“That sounds depressing.”

Draco nodded.

“Is there any family that is going to visit?”

“No. The Malfoys out on the continent want nothing to do with us, and Mother’s only family is a sister she hasn’t seen in years.”

Harry was silent for a moment, then he had an idea, “You think we could write each other over the holidays or something?”

“Huh?”

“It’s just that I’m going to be staying by myself in London for most of the holidays, with Ginny and Ron in relationships there isn’t any room for me at the Weasly’s so writing you would at least ease some of the boredom. You sound like you could use someone as well.”

“Oh.” Draco paused, “Why not? I’m sure it won’t really make things worse.”

Harry smiled.

By then the two had returned to where Harry’s compartment was.

“This is my stop.” Harry stood by the door awkwardly.

“I guess I’ll see you after the break.” Draco said as he started to walk away.

“Yeah.” Harry stood outside the compartment for a few seconds longer.

Harry smiled at the auror as he passed. The auror gaped at Harry, would people never realize he was literally, just a normal person?

Well, at least Draco did.

The beginning of the week was quite nice. Harry spent his time working on odds and ends around Grimmuald Place or hanging out at the Burrow. He was still getting used to the idea of being independent and not needing to stay with anybody. He rather liked to escape to the solitude of Grimmuald place when he felt like he was exhausted from being around people at the Burrow. Though he wouldn’t mind living with another person, so long as it was one person.

On Monday he made good on his promise to write to Draco,

_Draco,_

_Here’s my first letter as promised. I probably am going to end up rambling, just warning you. This weekend I discovered that I hate people. I had some last minute shopping to do, had to glamour my face for that, but there were still too many people everywhere. And the Burrow (Ron’s parent’s house) has a lot of people all the time. They’re also recovering from losing Fred and being there can get depressing sometimes. I do miss him and want to help them with their grief, but sometimes it just feels like too much. Escaping back to London, (I wouldn’t call where I stay home, it’s kind of a disaster and it was owned my my Godfather’s insane mother, but I’m in the process of making it livable again.), is quite the relief. It does get a bit lonely sometimes though._

_I’m seeing my godson Teddy tomorrow. I’ll have him all day so that his grandmother can get some rest. For not even being a year old yet, he’s quite the handful. I haven’t seen him since the summer, but I’m hoping to convince Andie (his grandmother) to bring him by for a Hogsmeade visit later in the year. You can meet him then if you want, he likes new people._

_I’m really excited about what I got you for Christmas. Don’t worry about getting me anything if you haven’t, I know you’re dealing with a lot right now. I have found myself missing having you around. The creepiness of this house and the being alone here can sometimes get to me a bit. Hermione’s letting me do all the lesson plans for January so I have that to keep me busy when I’m not trying to get the heads of dead house elves off the wall (Like I said my Godfather’s mother was a special kind of crazy.)_

_How’s your mother? As a matter of fact how are you doing? I hope that the aurors aren’t too depressing, and that being at home isn’t too boring. I’d say something about hoping the Manor itself wasn’t too depressing, but I’m honestly unsure of how you feel about the place right now._

_Miss you,_

_—Harry_

_P.S.— I forgot to mention this before, to get around my mail filters, and wards address the letter to Prongs II._

Harry sent the letter off with his new owl Leo. It had been hard getting a new owl last summer, but he found it hard to function in society without it. He had also had to put up filters on his mail keeping out fan and hate mail.

Now all there was to do was plan lessons and wait for Draco’s response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos to feed my soul


	24. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Not sure if Appie updated y’all. We will be doing one chapter each week, alternating POVs. This week (obviously) is Draco’s week. I’m sorry that you won’t be getting as many chapters now, but I hope you like the content anyway!
> 
> —Tay

Draco was glad to be home with his mother. He didn’t like having the auror there, tracking their every movement. He wished he could have gone somewhere else, he hated this manor. It wasn’t home, not anymore. He stared at a spot on the ground, here he had tortured countless death eaters on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s orders. He moved into the dining room. Here, at this table, he had watched a Hogwarts teacher die. Draco moved into the back room. Here, he had been forced to feed Nagini the remains of some muggleborn child. And just there, he had been tortured for his father’s mistakes. Over there, he had learned Occlumency fromBellatrix.

No, this was not his home. This was a prison, that he had grown to loathe over these past few years.

At least he still had his mother. They would get through this together. Survive this, together.

A little brightness came into Draco’s life with the arrival of an owl. Clutched in its claws was a letter, from none other than Harry Potter himself.

Harry’s letter was sweet. But it gave Draco false hope that he didn’t want. Harry missed him! But that begged the question; did he miss Harry? If he was honest with himself, then yes, he did miss Harry. But could he tell Harry that? He didn’t think that he could.

_Dear, Harry_

_I think I am falling in love with you and I don’t know what to do about it._

He crumpled up the letter and began a new one.

_Dear, Prongs II_

_I am glad you have discovered a fact I have long since known; people suck. There are always far too many of them, simply taking up all of the space that could be better filled by air. I wish I could do something as mundane as shopping, but my auror is lazy and does not wish to have to watch me from anywhere that is not this dreadful manor._

_It’s so empty now, without all of the death eaters milling about. I must confess, I hate the silence. I miss Hogwarts. Though, yes there were a lot of people there, I didn’t feel so alone, so lonely._

_I was unaware that you were a Godfather. Teddy is quite the name, I assume it is short for something? And Andie, what’s her full name? This may surprise you, but I happen to love children. Unlike those plagued with age, children do not suck. In other words: I would love to meet him._

_You didn’t have to get me a Christmas present. I apologize for not getting you anything. I must color myself intrigued. I haven’t a clue what you could have possibly gotten me. I would have no idea what to get you._

_You say that I am, and I quote “dealing with a lot” but I must confess that I am woefully bored and I am in fact missing your company. It is odd having a room to myself again, despite having spent nearly all of my life with my own quarters._

_I know a thing or two about the walls, floor and ceiling surrounding you being unsettling. That happens to be this entire place for me. It would seem we are in the same boat on that front at least._

_Any interest in giving me an inside look at the eighth year lessons? Maybe I can help? I cannot tell if you’re joking about the house elf’s heads or not, I truly hope you are. I didn’t know that hanging the head’s of creatures on walls was a thing that people did._

_It’s hard to tell how my mother is these days. She tries to hide her pain from me, she thinks that she has already burdened me with enough. I know she misses dad, though I can’t figure why. Dad did a lot of bad and dragged us into a lot of trouble. I think I’m okay, or if I’m not there yet, I’m getting there. It’s definitely better now, you know without You-Know-Who around._

_I miss you too, quite a bit more than I probably should. With that said, there is something I ought to tell you, and I might add that I am completely sober (the aurors took all of our alcohol when they raided the place). I like you, as in, not platonically, rather I think I like you romantically, or sexually? Whatever the proper term is._

_With that out in the open, I feel as though there are a few things that require some explanations. I have liked you for a very long time, I had thought I got over it, but it would seem that that is not the case. See, when I asked you to be my friend, a part of me hoped for more in the future. But you said no and I hurt and embarrassed, and I took it out on you and everyone you cared about._

_I was jealous of Hermione, and I treated her like shit because of it. I thought you were going to fall in love with her. I don’t know what I was thinking during our fourth year with those Potter Stinks badges, I’m sorry about that. All I know is I was scared and pissed off that someone was going after you. And quite frankly I was terrified that you would die. Once again, I’m sorry and I know I was an ass._

_Happy Christmas,_

_Draco_

With shaking hands, Draco closed the envelope and passed it off to Harry’s owl, paired with an owl treat.

The bird flew off, leaving Draco to wait with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Draco found himself pacing back and forth for hours on end, despite the fact that he knew it would be days before he received any sort of return letter from Harry. If Harry wrote back to him at all. With every small sound, he found himself craning his neck in the hope of seeing an owl at the window.

“Stop pacing,” His auror grunted.

“Sorry,” Draco mumbled and made his way to his bedroom. The auror followed him. Draco rounded on the auror, “Are you going to follow me into the shower too?”

The auror said nothing, but answered Draco’s question as he followed him into the bathroom.

“What, so you’re just going to ignore my mother?” Draco asked, his nerves showing through as irritation. He climbed into the shower with his clothes still on and pulled the curtain closed. He chucked his clothes over the side, hoping to hit the auror with though. He missed, probably for the best though, otherwise the auror could have had him charged for assault.

He took the longest shower in the history showers, and found, much to his pleasure, that the auror was gone when he flung the curtain open.

He got dressed and strode into the kitchen, to find his mother making them dinner. He helped her and set the table. They had a nice, quiet meal, the only sounds were the clinking of utensils against the dishes.

“I didn’t know you were good at cooking.” Draco said to his mother just after he had swallowed the last bit of food.

“I’ve picked up a few things in solitude, experimented. By the time you come back, who knows, maybe I’ll be able to bake too.” She joked. And there she was, Draco’s old mother. The one he had known when he was little. The one who joked, and laughed and read him stories before tucking him into bed. The one who didn’t have a thousand regrets lying behind her eyes.

Two days passed, and he could see more and more of her shining through to the surface.

And then finally, Harry’s letter of return was there.

Draco was scared to open it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OoOoOo Draco made some breakthroughs this week with his feelings towards Harry!!!!! What do you think Harry’s response will be?
> 
> —Tay


	25. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s September but I listened to Christmas music in order to write this. Tay and I have officially started classes again and I’m wiped so that’s really all I have to say
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Harry returned home to Grimmuald after dinner on Christmas Eve. He was a bit wiped after playing quidditch in the snow all day. He was ready to crash into bed and sleep for eternity.

As he laid down and looked up at the stars he had charmed onto his ceiling. Draco’s letter sat on his bedside table, he had read it through about a million times, but he still had no idea how to respond.

Well he supposed he did, but the prospect was a bit daunting. Malfoy liked him, he had written proof.

Now he just had to say he like him back.

Not difficult at all. (/s)

He was still pondering it as he fell asleep that night.

He woke up at the crack of dawn, put on his nice Christmas pajamas in favor of his t-shirt and joggers. He headed downstairs and flooed over to the Burrow.

Molly was up early baking something that smelled delicious. Harry followed his nose into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

Molly turned around from where she was working, “Oh, good morning Harry, dear. You’re here awfully early, would you like some tea?”

“Yes please, what are you making?”

“Some sweet Christmas bread to go with breakfast. Here you go dear.” She said, setting the cup of tea down in front of him.

“Thank you.”

A calm silence settled over the kitchen for roughly the next hour, then people slowly started to trickle down the stairs to join them.

Eventually they opened presents, Mr. Weasley’s face lit up when he unwrapped the muggle wireless, and Hermione had put the new earrings on before lunch. Luna immediately had Ginny put the flower crown on her head and she had not taken it off since.

They had breakfast, and then went outside and ended up having a giant snowball fight. Well everyone but Fleur, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Fleur had just announced that she was pregnant and didn’t want to participate in the snowball fight.

Teddy and Andie stopped by for lunch. There was a camera that had been charmed to follow Teddy, and consequently whoever was holding him at the time, around making sure to capture all kinds of photos of his first Christmas.

It was just as they were finishing eating that the argument erupted at the other end of the table. Hermione and Ron were arguing again, soon enough they were yelling. Harry had no idea what it was about, because Teddy started crying, his hair turning a sickly shade of red. Instead of trying to be peacemaker for his friends once again, he took the crying baby into the other room to try and calm him.

It was nearly a half hour later that Hermione came into the room, subdued and crying. “Can I come stay with you tonight? I just ended it with him, it just wasn’t working.”

“Yeah, whatever you need. We can go visit you parents later if you want.” Hermione’s parents were in the slow process of recovering their memories, luckily it worked backwards so they remembered their daughter and that she was a witch, the downside it it would be another six months until they could leave St. Mungos.

“Thank you, if you don’t mind, I’ll get my things and we can go.”

Harry nodded.

Harry passed Teddy back to his grandmother and and said his goodbyes. Then he and Hermione flooed back to Grimmuald.

They decided to go to St. Mungos for dinner that night. Hermone spent the afternoon pouring over the lesson plans

Harry sat down and finally started his letter for Draco. He attached his present for him to it as well. He had found a pair of hyena shaped cuff links, and a matching pin for Draco’s cloak. Harry wasn’t sure why they made him think of Draco, but he knew as soon as he saw them that they were perfect.

_Dear Draco,_

_I hope you haven’t died of boredom yet, somehow I still haven’t. Sorry for taking so long to respond. I’ve attached your gift here, I really hope you like it._

_I’m glad to hear you like kids. I’m not quite sure where I stand on kids of my own yet, I never really had a consistent father figure in my life, but I’m going to do the best I can helping raise Teddy. If you must know, Teddy is indeed short for something, he was named for his grandfather Edward (Though he went by Ted). Teddy’s father was the last of my Dad’s friends, and him and his wife died at the Battle of Hogwarts. Andie (Andromeda’s her full name by the way) and I plan to split custody after I graduate._

_In news about the house, I finally figured out how to get the creepy family tree tapestry off the wall in the study the other day. Also, I’m not joking about the house elf heads. I’m just glad I never got to meet the my Godfather’s mother when she was alive. She died long before I even found out magic was real (Which was on my eleventh birthday, even though my aunt and uncle knew). Though I am stuck with her portrait that screams bloody murder every time there is a remotely loud sound in the entryway._

_I actually am in surplus of help at the moment because Hermione and Ron have broken up and she’s come to stay with me. They had a big fight after lunch today (Despite the fact that it’s Christmas!), and she ended it. I’m not sure what to do now that they aren’t talking. They’re my best friends, I’m not even sure what the fight was about, but if the feud goes on much longer I’m going to lose it. I don’t even think they should get back together, just be able to have a civil conversation._

_About that thing you wrote, I kind of like you too, I guess. I haven’t really had much space for dating in my life up until now, so feeling like this is kind of new. I’m sorry about shutting you down that night you tried to tell me, I just panicked. It was nearing the end of term and I wasn’t quite in the headspace for that kind of news._

_Don’t worry about the past, it is what it is. There are far more people in my past who have done much more unforgivable things than you. As for the Hermione thing I am going to tease you about it a bit because there was a time last year that Ron thought the same_ _thing. You two dislike each other so much, but sometimes also can share the same way of thinking. She’s honestly like my older sister, so you really have nothing to worry about there._

_Anyway, now that our feelings are out in the open, would you maybe want to, go on a date sometime? (If I sound like an idiot please just ignore that.)_

_—Harry_

Harry hoped he didn’t sound like a fool, but before he could second guess himself, he sent the letter and small package off.

He headed to the makeshift study, as the real one was still to eerie to get anything done in, and found Hermione staring at the lesson plans.

“You really were bored, you’ve done out to May. Smart move you made with the patronus lesson.” She said.

“Yeah, well, you had already done to the end of February. You okay?”

“I will be. It hadn’t been going well for a while, at least we know we weren’t meant to be.”

Harry just nodded, “You ready to go?”

“Yes.” Hermione smiled.


	26. Draco

Draco had read through Harry’s letter five times now, and still, his brain was struggling to process everything that had been written there.

He was home alone, well alone if he managed to forget about the auror that followed his every step. It was a different auror now than when he had first returned home. This one was a woman, young and far kinder. She had told him that Tonks had been her friend, that they had trained together and even been in the same year at Hogwarts. It had taken him a moment to realize that Tonks referred to his cousin, Nymphadora.

He wondered if this auror knew that he had not been close to his cousin, never even met her really. At least not in living memory.

The auror had shown polite curiosity when she’d seen that Draco had received a letter from the one and only Harry Potter, but she hadn’t pried or forced him to hand it over as many of the other aurors he had encountered thus far would have done. And he was glad for it.

He had had a quiet and rather lovely Christmas with his mum. Spending so much time around her had renewed his fears regarding her trial. He knew she missed his father, but he hoped with everything he had that she would not join him in Azkaban.

She had gone there tonight to visit his father, and Draco had been meant to go along too but he hadn’t been able to manage. He couldn’t face his father, not yet. If he was being honest with himself, he blamed his father for much of what had happened in these past years. His father had been the one so eager to join up after all. And his father had been the one to fail in the hall of mysteries, pushing the Dark Lord’s wrath onto Draco.

Draco loved his father, and he knew he would eventually forgive him. He just needed some time,

Draco turned his attention back to Harry’s letter. There was much there to take in and he didn’t know what to make of any of it.

Harry was the Godfather of Draco’s deceased cousin’s son, for one thing. Granger and Weasley had broken up and now she was staying with Harry, for another. Draco wasn’t sure how to feel about either of those things. He had always been wary of the relationship between Harry and Granger, and with them staying in the same house...

Draco reminded himself that Harry had said Granger was like an older sister to him.

But the next part is where the letter became most troubling. _I kind of like you too, I guess._ That wasn’t all that great of a response to Draco’s confession, but it was better than flat out hatred, and right now, Draco would take anything he could get with Harry. The next bit made it a tad better and Harry had apologized. Draco didn’t really think he had anything to apologize for, but still...

Draco was glad that Harry was putting the past behind him, but he wasn’t too fond of the comparison Harry had drawn between him and Weasley.

Then there was that last bit. That bit that made Draco’s heart want to leap straight from his chest. Harry had asked him to go on a date! A date! As in the two of them! Together!

It was more than he could have possibly hoped for.

He read it through once more before deciding it was high time to construct a response. Then he remembered Harry’s gift to him. He had been so focused on the words themselves that he had forgotten about the gift entirely.

He reached for it now and fumbled to unwrap it. It was bizarre to say the least. Draco wasn’t quite sure what Harry’s angle on this was. What had inspired this gift? They were cuff links, that he was sure of, but what animal was this? Draco loved them. He had to keep himself from putting them on just then. It would have looked ridiculous, as he was wearing pajamas.

“Should I be worried that Potter is arming you?” Asked the auror lightly.

Draco’s head snapped up, he had completely forgotten she was there. “What?” He returned.

She gestured to the cuff links. “They’re sharp, like tiny swords.”

Draco snorted and shook his head a fraction of an inch. He padded across his room and grabbed an ink bottle, a quill and some parchment. Then he returned to his desk and set to work writing his response to Harry.

_Dear Harry,_

_Your gift was brilliant, what inspired it, might I ask? Apologies once more, I really should have gotten something for you. I’m really cutting this close here, by the time you get this, we might just be headed back to Hogwarts. It’s a race then, what’ll reach you first, me or my letter?_

_On the subject of children, I’ve never really had a choice in the matter. My father was always so set on me continuing the Malfoy family line, no questions asked. But now, with him in Azkaban, I don’t really think that he deserves a say anymore. Come to think about it, I don’t think he ever really deserved a say at all. Whether or not I have children, I see that as a sort of stepping off point, where it becomes my life... not his._

_In other news, Andromeda is actually my aunt, ~~she was mum’s sister~~ , is mum’s sister. Sorry, it’s just always kind of felt like she’s dead because she hasn’t ever really been a part of my life. I’d like to change that though, if I can. I know mum wants to as well, but she’s afraid that Andromeda won’t have her back. The way she explains it, ~~Aunt Bella~~ sorry force of habit, Bellatrix rather, went all dark during their time in Hogwarts and Andromeda didn’t want anything to do with it. And my mum, well she kind of got stuck in the middle and she had to choose. And then my dad came along and she loved him and he was dark too, so... well you know the rest._

_I feel bad though, really Andromeda only has baby Teddy left. I mean, Nymphadora was her only child and she lost her. Her husband died... Bellatrix killed him, I saw it. And our old teacher, Lupin, married Nymphadora, right? And he’s gone too. Anyway, I’m going to try reaching out to her soon, once I can pluck up the nerve to do it._

_Surprise here though, the auror who’s guarding me right now was actually a friend of Nymphadora, but she called her Tonks. Is that something you knew her as?_

_I am in utter shock that you aren’t devastated about not being able to meet your Godfather’s mother, I mean she sounds like quite the charmer, especially with the screaming bloody murder bit. (That was sarcasm in case you couldn’t tell.)_

_Sorry about Ron and Hermione, I was shocked when the two of them became a thing, it really just didn’t feel like a good match to me._

_I guess I’m kind of glad you ‘guess you kind of like me.’Don’t get me wrong though, I get it, dating is hard. And if you’re serious about going on a real live date with me, then yes, I’m in. But we’ll be figuring it out together, as we go along._

_I’ll see you soon,_

_Draco_

_P.S. If you tease me, I’ll hex you. :)_

Satisfied, Draco sealed the letter and passed it off to the auror. She examined it and muttered a few spells before deeming it safe to be sent away.

“So,” The auror began after a long while of silence, “How do you and Harry Potter know each other?”

Draco sighed. How could he sum up years of denied friendship, rivalry, jealousy, unrequited love, resentment, annoyance, and even at some points, hatred, in a way that she would be able to understand. “We’re roommates.”


	27. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter (and later) than normal for me, but I’m glad I got this much with the way my attention span has been lately.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Malfoy’s letter arrived the morning that he and Hermione were to head back to Hogwarts. Harry figured that it would be easiest to wait and talk to Malfoy in person later that night.

He and Hermione apparated into Hogsmeade, it was odd not being on the train, but McGonagall wanted all staff there early to prep their classrooms and have a staff meeting.

The meeting was over just in time for a small late lunch and then Harry and Hermione set off to get their classroom ready for the new term.

“You’ve been rather giddy all day.” Hermione commented out of the blue while she and Harry were laying out the mats.

“What?”

“You’ve been smiling all day. What’s up?”

“Can’t I just be excited about the new term?”

“I know you. So no. Especially because our going home for the break put us on the Monday morning hall shift.”

“Fine. I asked Draco out.”

“Finally! The amount of staring and tension between you two these past few weeks was driving me insane, what’d he say?”

“He said yes.” Harry said blushing the tiniest bit.

“That’s great. What are you doing for your date? When is it going to be?”

Harry signed and indulged her in the details of what he was planning.

The train arrived in time for dinner, as usual. Harry went and found Ron amongst the crowd of students, they hadn’t had a good chance to talk since Ron and Hermione had broken up. All Harry knew was that he would stop talking to them if they made him pick sides, well as much as he could stop talking to his quidditch teammates, coworker, and student.

He made eye contact with Hermione across the hall, who was talking with Neville, as Ron went into a story of a quidditch match he had played in the snow with his brothers New Year’s Eve.

Hermione looked at him and Ron, sighed and went over to the staff table, taking Neville with her. She sat down in her normal seat and Neville wound up taking Harry’s spot next to her. Harry didn’t mind, per say, but Neville wasn’t a staff member so it was a bit unconventional.

Harry was unprepared for Ron to spend the majority of dinner complaining about Hermione. He did spot Draco sitting at the old Slytherin table across the hall. Harry was seated at the Ravenclaw table, but on the far end compared to where Draco sat, so it was hard to see him much less talk to him.

After dinner Harry was feeling a bit brain dead form all Ron’s complaining, so he went up to his and Draco’s room and collapsed on his bed. He pulled out a cutesy Muggle novel he had bought over the break, a holiday themed mystery, and read for a while. It was nearly ten when he realized Draco wasn’t back yet.

He had to get some sleep for his morning hall shift so he wrote a note to Draco so that he wouldn’t think Harry was blowing him off or avoiding him.

_Draco,_

_Turns out I did get your letter first. I’m leaving this note because I was too tired to wait up and I have hall duty in the morning. As for the gift I really don’t know what inspired it. I saw them in this little muggle shop and I was instantly reminded of you. Not sure why though, it’s not as if they were snakes, or green and blue, or stars or something._

_Returning to the subject of Tonks, yes that is what I knew her as, she liked it better than her full name. I feel like an idiot for not remembering that your mum and Andromeda are sisters,Sirius brought it up once, but there was a lot going on at the time. Tonks did marry Remus Lupin, he was one of my dad’s best friends the last of their little gang of friends to go. I’ll never forget when he came into Bill and Fleur’s (Ron’s oldest brother and his wife, Fleur was also the Beauxbatons champion in fourth year) cottage and had this adorable little picture of newborn Teddy. That’s when he asked me to be godfather. Of course I said yes on the spot._

_The Ron and Hermione situation hasn’t gotten any better, they refused to talk at dinner tonight. Hermione didn’t even sit with us, she took her seat at the staff table instead. She dragged Neville up there with her too (he sat in my seat!), I wanted to sit with Ron, I really don’t want to pick sides, and Hermione stayed with me for most of the holidays, so I thought it important to sit with him. Sadly, he complained about Hermione the whole time._

_I’m thanking my lucky stars you said yes to the date. I know I sounded a bit uncertain about my feelings in my last letter, it wasn’t the fact that it’s you, these feelings are just really new. I haven’t had a real crush and been able to acknowledge it properlyin the past (Blame my aunt and uncle for screwing me up in that department). Since the beginning of term is always so busy and there isn’t a Hogsmeade weekend until like February, I have an idea about an after hours date somewhere in the castle in like two weeks if you’re up for it._

_See you in class tomorrow,_

_-H_

Harry placed the not on Draco’s pillow and promptly fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave COMMENTS and kudos to feed our souls!!!


	28. Update

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!!! The chapter is now up! Sorry for the delay! Enjoy!
> 
> —Tay

Draco returned to his and Harry’s shared bedroom to find a passed out Harry and a note on Draco’s own pillow. He read it quickly, smiling faintly Harry’s hastily scribbled words. Draco wouldn’t be able to see Harry in the morning because he had hall duty and would be out early, but at least Draco would see him during Defense Against the Dark Arts. And they could talk tomorrow evening. How was it, that to Draco, tomorrow seemed years away?

Draco sighed and slid into his bed, waving his wand to turn out the lights.

Just as he had suspected, when he woke the next morning, Harry was already gone. Draco groaned and rolled out of bed. It took mere minutes for him to get ready for the day, once he was, he padded down to the common room. Blaise and Daphne were already there, but Pansy had not yet made an appearance. 

Draco rubbed his chilled fingers and moved closer to the fire raging within the hearth. “Where’s Pans?” He asked the other two.

They shrugged and Daphne said, “Taking her sweet time as usual. How was your holiday?”

“Fine,” Draco said, offering a shrug of his own. “Rather uneventful, quiet.”

“We could all use a little bit of quiet now.” Blaise said. 

“How were your Christmases?” Draco asked them, more out of a need to pass the time than anything else. 

“My mum’s moved on to husband number eight. She really knows how to pick them, rich and old... or sick. I can’t see this one lasting very long.” Blaise said, his expression souring.

“At least you won’t have to worry about her going poor,” Daphne said, attempting lightheartedness. “Tracey came home from Albania, she’s got herself a special friend.”

“Special friend?” Draco asked.

“Yeah, she told me she started dating someone named Jules but she didn’t specify pronouns... and she’s pansexual, so I have no idea.” Daphne explained.

Draco laughed, “And you didn’t ask?”

Daphne shook her head, embarrassed. “Well, anyway, mum spent the entire holiday trying to convince her to stay. See, Trace won’t take any of my parents money, so she’s real poor. Mum and dad don’t like that she’s wandering Albania aimlessly with some random person who she’s just met and no money.”

“Sounds like fun.” Joked Draco.

“Trace loves it, she’s happier than I’ve ever seen her, and she spent the whole time trying to convince me to go back with her and just ditch school for the second semester.” Daphne said, “I really considered it.”

“And yet, you’re still here.” Blaise pointed out.

“Where else would I get to watch Potter and Draco dance around each other’s feeling.”

Draco lurched forward slightly in surprise and spluttered out, “What?” He glanced quickly around the room to ensure no one else was listening in.

“You like him, I know it.” Daphne said.

“I-er...” Draco sighed and gave in, “Yeah.”

“Ha!” Daphne said, in victory, and turned to face Blaise. Reluctantly, be passed over two galleons.

“Hang on,” Draco said, affronted, “You bet on it?”

“Bet on a what?” Asked Pansy, finally making her way down the stairs and into the common room. 

Draco moved with the others as they joined Pansy and exited the common room to head down for breakfast. 

“Blaise thought you fancied Weasley, Pans thought it was Granger and I thought it was Potter.” Daphne said.

“Ooo who was it?” Asked Pansy, interested now.

“You owe me a galleon,” Daphne said proudly.

“Damnit, so it’s really not Granger then? But Potter, I can see it. It still makes more sense than Weasley,” Pansy said with a grin.

“You should ask him out,” Blaise suggested.

“Actually... about that,” Draco said, “He’s already asked me out.”

“Hang on, what?” Asked Daphne, stopping in her tracks. Pansy and Blaise both looked shocked too. Draco continued walking and the others had to run to catch up. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know, we just sort of became friends and I told him that I liked him and he asked me out.” Draco shrugged.

All of breakfast was spent with the four of them huddled together at the corner of what had once been the Slytherin table. Draco recounted the entire story, with many interrupted questions from the other three.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Granger was going over an auror report and helping everyone through reading one. Harry was sitting at the desk, the last, and far more basic, auror report they’d just done. And Draco, kept glancing up at Harry as he worked. On a few occasions, Draco would look up to find that Harry was looking at him, and for the briefest moment, their eyes would meet. Then one of them would look away and the moment would end. 

“Draco.” Hermione said, calling on him and snapping his attention away from Harry. 

Draco cast his eyes around the room, searching for anything to indicate what she had asked. “Er- sorry, what?” 

“I asked, what was the fine for the offense on this auror report.” Hermione said and she strode over to his desk. “We’re on this page,” She flipped through to page seven and then returned to the front of the room. “Do try and pay attention.” She said, but her smile was knowing and as her eyes flitted over to Harry, she gave herself away.

Harry had looked up upon hearing Draco’s name and now he seemed to be silently laughing at Draco, who glared in response, only serving to make Harry’s shoulders shake, with the silent laughter, even harder.


	29. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I totally forgot to write until like Friday last week, then it ended up being super long cause Tay and I decided I was gonna write the date. So here, a week late, is a near double length chapter for y’all.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

The next few weeks were rather strange for Harry. He and Malfoy, it seemed had agreed not to interact much on purpose. They shared a room and Harry was his teacher, so there were moments where they talked, but the date seemed like an elephant in the room that neither of them discussed, at least not face to face. Instead they had fallen into the habit of leaving notes for each other to find.

It had started with Draco’s response to Harry’s note from the first night of the new term. It had been a day or two later and Draco had talked about how his friends had had a bet on them. That had made Harry laugh for a good ten minutes. Draco had also asked for specifics about the date. Harry had told him that it would be after hours on Saturday, a week from when he had replied. They would head out at eleven thirty, since the area they were going to was checked first after the eighth year curfew. It seemed late, but it was a Saturday so they had Sunday to catch up on sleep.

One day Harry noticed Draco staring, rather overtly, at him during the eighth year DADA class. Hermione seemed to notice too because she promptly called on Draco. It was funny, really, had Harry been the one talking Draco probably would know what was going on, but since it was Hermione he was utterly sidetracked.

At the end of their last class for the week, Pansy came up to Harry- who was at his desk- slapped a note down, and left the room.

_Pick him up in room 3 tomorrow. Don’t be late._

_-Parkinson_

_P.S: If you hurt him, I will kill you and make sure you don’t come back this time._

Aside from the threat at the end, which Harry figured would have gone for anyone Draco dated, (he would have made similar threats to people dating Ron and Hermione, if they hadn’t dated each other) the note seemed to imply that Pansy was helping Draco get ready for the date, and it was rather sweet of her to help her friend like that.

Harry took a quick trip to pick up some flowers in Hogsmeade during the day on Saturday, then went to his empty classroom to get ahead on homework.

After lunch Harry suddenly had a nervous energy. He went upstairs and put on some of his practice quidditch robes, much lighter and conducive to a workout than the game robes.

He went out to the pitch and ran a lap around the field before running some drills on his broom. He went in for dinner, then decided it would be smart to go take a shower.

When he got to his room Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were waiting for him.

“What’s going on here?” He asked.

“We’re gonna get you ready for your date, duh.” Said Ginny, who had moved to open his wardrobe and started tearing it apart.

“You realize I’m not going to get him until after eleven right?”

“It’s eight right now, which means plenty of time. Besides weren’t you gonna go set up before curfew?” Hermione asked.

“Yes, but I am perfectly capable of getting ready on my own.”

Ginny let out a laugh, “No you’re not.”

Harry looked to Luna for help, “There’s no getting out of this is there?”

“I’m sorry Harry, I can’t let you go on your date with this many wrackspurts around you.”

“Okay, fine, let’s get this over with.”

“That’s the spirit Potter.” Ginny chucked the first potential outfit at him.

It was well after ten by the time he went down to set up. He snagged the flowers from his classroom and went back up to the dorms.

He went to room three and knocked, he was a bit early, but he would be fine.

“Come back in five minutes!” Called Daphne’s voice.

Harry walked back to his room checked himself over in the mirror one last time.

The girls had put him in dark jeans and a green shirt that was a shade or two brighter than Slytherin green, it set off his eyes he supposed. Hermione had tamed his hair, well tamed being relative, it looked like it was messy on purpose rather than a rat’s nest. Luna had rolled up his sleeves to show his forearms, and made the buttons gold. She had put matching gold glitter in his hair. He thought it was a little excessive, but grinned and bore it. Ginny had spelled all the dings and scratches of the past year from his glasses, and added a gold spiral pattern to one of his back pockets. The top couple of buttons on his shirt were left undone.

Aside from the gold buttons and glitter, those were a little much, he looked good.

He checked his watch, five minutes had passed.

He ventured out to room three once again and knocked.

Pansy opened the door. “You read the last part of my note right?”

“Yes, I did. Don’t worry, I’m not planning on hurting him.”

“You better not. Draco, you can come out now.”

Draco stepped out of the door and smiled. He was gorgeous, he wore a pale blue shirt, buttons done up and neatly pressed. He wore black slacks, his hair done to perfection.

“Hi.” Harry said, offering the bouquet of various colors of warm toned roses, nothing red though, it was a but early for that.

“Oh.” Draco blushed and took the flowers, “These are nice.”

“Shall we?” Harry asked.

“Let’s.” Draco smiled and stepped out into the hall.

They walked down and out of the common room in silence.

Once they were out in the hall, Draco asked “Where are we going? Did you find a special new place?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that actually, we’re going to the Great Hall.”

“Oh.” Draco sounded almost disappointed.

“I have something other than just sitting in the Great Hall planned. I’m not dumb enough to realize that’s not a particularly exciting date.”

They reached the giant doors and stepped through.

Harry turned to Draco to watch his reaction.

“Woah. This is... amazing.”

Harry smiled. He had moved all the long tables to the sides of the hall, and set up a picnic, mostly of sweets, in the center, with a lot of blankets and a few throw pillows for comfort. The candles up on the ceiling were out and had drifted to their resting place above the staff table, except twothat floated just above the floor, glowing warmly. The ceiling was a stunningly clear view of the whole night sky. Harry had modified the spell to show the sky above the clouds, that would wear off by the morning.

A soft tune played from a phonograph in the corner, Harry had pulled Daphne Greengrass aside one day to ask about Draco’s music taste. He had found a record with a bunch of good date songs that were both wizard and Muggle, the Wizarding ones including some of Draco’s favorites, according to Daphne.

“When did you do all this?” Draco asked, still gaping at the hall.

“Earlier tonight after the younger years went to bed. It’s not much, really.” Harry was blushing now.

“Only you Potter.”

“Wanna dance?”

“Last I saw you didn’t do well.”

“Well, I was leading and had only had a crash course. I’d let you lead this dance. From what I’ve seen you must have had some dance lessons growing up.”

“It was a requirement for me, but I didn’t hate them.”

“So shall we?”

“Sure.”

They danced for what, to Harry seemed like forever, then ended up on the blanket, picking at the chocolates. Harry did his best not to stare at Draco, but was failing quite a bit, that didn’t quite matter though, Draco was staring right back.

“I’ve been curious as to how you came up with the Great Hall for a date.”

“Oh, well, I knew you liked the stars, but the astronomy tower was out. It’s too cold and there are too many bad memories there. I’m also a bit scared to check if the Room of Requirement still works. That left this or sneaking into the library, though Filch and Mrs. Norris guard that like hawks at night.”

“I see, so you actually do know to try not to get in trouble.” There wasn’t any malice in the words.

Harry frowned, “I never wanted to get into trouble you know. It just came with the title. And giving an eleven year old absolute freedom for the first time, especially when the headmaster gives you an easy way to sneak around.”

“Your invisibility cloak? Dumbledore gave that to you?”

“It was my father’s. But Dumbledore had it when my parents died.”

“Oh.” Draco sounded like he thought he said something terribly wrong.

“It’s okay Draco. Really. Thinking about them doesn’t hurt as much as people think it does. I really don’t remember them enough to truly miss them.”

“You sure I didn’t totally screw up?”

“Not entirely.”

“Good. I really wanna make this work.”

“Me too.”

A bell chimed two.

“We should get back.” Draco said.

“Right. I’ve gotta put things back first.” He vanished the pillows and blankets, and put the picnic back into its basket, the candles were extinguished and they floated back to their resting place.

“Can I help with the tables?”

“Sure.”

After making quick work of the tables, they escaped back up to the eighth year dorms.

They stood awkwardly outside room seven, almost waiting for something to happen.

“This is the part where we would normally go our separate ways.” Draco said, trying to fill the silence.

“Right, but I guess we both have to go in there.”

“Yup.”

Harry reached for the door and let Draco step inside.

“You can take the bathroom first.” Harry said, knowing Draco needed to shower or else he couldn’t fall asleep properly.

“Thanks.” Draco said, “You’ve got glitter in your hair.” When did he get so close?

“Luna did it. It’ll likely be in there for months.” Harry breathed.

“I like it.” Draco said, leaning in.

Before Harry knew what was happening Draco was kissing him. First tentatively, and then with passion. Then it was over and Draco had retreated to the bathroom.

Harry stumbled into bed and fell asleep within a few minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments to feed our souls


	30. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this week... hope you like it! :)

Draco slipped out of the bathroom and crossed their room, the only light came in a strip through the window, from the moon. He settled himself into his bed and found that he could not fall asleep. For hours he stared up at the ceiling, his mind racing with every thought he had suppressed for his entire life. The dam had opened and now he was drowning. He turned onto his side and looked at Harry, whom had been sound asleep from the time Draco had started his shower.

Draco sighed, long and slow. He watched Harry’s chest rise and fall and rise again, in that gentle rhythm. Draco began to match it and then finally, he drifted into a restless sleep.

In the morning, he awoke to find Harry waiting for him.

“Good morning,” He said sleepily, grinning up at Harry.

“G’morning.” Harry returned. “Hungry?”

Draco nodded and slid out of bed, stretching his arms above his head and arching his back. When they reached the Great Hall, they arrived at a bit of a problem. Where to sit? Draco wasn’t sure if Harry would eat with him, they hadn’t really discussed going public. And if Harry did want to eat with Draco, where would they sit? With Harry’s friends or with Draco’s? Or entirely separate from everyone else?

Pansy came to the rescue, waltzing up to them and loudly saying, “Harry, could you come check over my analysis of our last auror report? I’m not sure if I got it entirely right.”

“Er, yeah, sure.” Harry said, trailing behind Pansy as she hurried back to where Blaise and Daphne were already seated. Conveniently, Draco noticed that two seats had been left open. Draco narrowed his eyes at the back of Pansy’s head and as she resumed her original place, he could almost feel the smugness drifting off of her.

Several people were watching them still, so Pansy rummaged in her bag and handed over her completed auror report analysis. The remaining people grew bored of watching Draco eat and Harry read, and after a bit, they all turned back to their own meals and conversations.

“So?” Pansy prompted, snatching back her analysis. She’d already gone over it with Hermione and knew it was perfect. “How was it?”

Draco couldn’t help his smile, “I think it went well.” He turned to Harry, silently asking what he thought.

Harry nodded, smiling himself, “Yeah, it was alright, I guess.”

Draco scoffed and bumped his shoulder lightly against Harry’s. “Git.”

Harry laughed and bumped him right back.

Harry stayed with Draco and his friends for all of breakfast, laughing and smiling and joking with them. And Draco felt happier than he had felt in a long time. For the first time, he was content. His attention drifted across the room, to the table that used to belong to the Gryffindors. Weasley was sitting with Thomas and Finnegan at one of the table, and on the other end, Granger sat with Weasley’s sister and Longbottom. And, much to Draco’s surprise, Hermione seemed to be sitting awfully close to Longbottom, a little closer than a pair who were strictly friends would sit.

Draco nudged Harry and nodded in Longbottom and Granger’s direction. “When did they become a thing?” He asked.

Harry followed Draco’s gaze and confused etched itself into his features, “What? Hermione and Neville? They’re just friends.”

Draco laughed, but managed to play it off as a cough to keep Harry from glaring at him. Sometimes Draco forgot that Harry was rather oblivious to everything around him. It only made him more fond of him.

His mind trailed to Longbottom and Granger- no, if he was going to date Harry, then he ought to get used to calling them Neville and Hermione. And Ron and Ginny. He thought that Neville and Hermione would make a good couple, if they did end up going that route with one another.

Draco sighed and his mind continued to drift. He had a test in Transfiguration next week and one in charms the week following. And there was that Quidditch match to prepare for. He knew he was forgetting something, but- his mum’s trial!

He had been so distracted by happiness that he had completely forgotten about his mum’s trial. His gut churned painfully, overwrought with worry and guilt. He would have to write to his mum sometime this week or the next to check in on her, see how she was feeling. Though, he highly doubted that she would be honest with him. After all, she was his mother, and though he was of age now, she still made it her duty to protect him from everything, even the truth.

Draco wondered if Harry would be testifying for her as he had done for him. He was just about to ask when breakfast ended and everyone began to file out of the Great Hall and into the corridor beyond. Reluctantly Draco split off from Harry, for while he had History of Magic, Harry had to go with Hermione and teach the third years.

It was likely best that Draco asked later anyway, when there weren’t so many people around. Unable to muster the courage to kiss Harry in front of everyone, he simply grasped his hand quickly and gave it a gentle squeeze before turning away and moving into the throng of people.


	31. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So classes suck write now and this is the first real thing I’ve written since my last chapter two weeks ago. Apparently exhaustion isn’t good for motivation. 
> 
> In other news, Tay and I used this week to plan through to the end, and it seems like we’re gonna finish and post the epilouge on Christmas Day! The end is (sadly) in sight, but my has this been fun. 
> 
> Hope you like it
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

The last two weeks of January were a bit of a blur. Harry and Draco hadn’t really been on any dates since the first one, but they were almost always together between having many classes together and sharing a room. It was nice, Harry thought, no one had seemed to pick up on anything, meaning they had some peace for once. It was nice, being happy like this, he had a job he enjoyed, Ron and Hermione were speaking again (though it was still mostly in monosyllables), no one was trying to kill him, the press was leaving him alone for the moment, and he had a boyfriend. He had even gotten all of the glitter from Luna out of his hair, life was most certainly good.

Sure he had yet to officially tell even his closets friends about that one. Hermione, Luna, and Ginny knew, but that was of their own devices. He and Draco seemed to have an unsaid agreement not to be obvious about their relationship, but also not overt. It seemed to be working well.

As the first week of February drew to a close, Harry realized that Valentine’s Day was only a week away. During a rare moment of free time on Saturday, Harry slipped out to Hogsmeade, a glamour hiding his face, and bought a single red rose. He returned and wrote a quick note tying it to the stem and then he placed it on Draco’s pillow.

_D,_

_Valentine’s? I was thinking a walk around Hogsmeade would be nice. I think a new little restaurant just opened up, we could do lunch. If not we could just hang out in the common room, the castle will be mostly empty anyways._

_-H_

Harry stepped back and left the room, he now had to go tutor some fifth years who were nervous for OWLs.

Harry got back after a late dinner, he had had to take a first year to the hospital wing after they had gotten hurt on a trick staircase.

Draco was working in the little nook that he liked to work in in the common room. Harry gave a little wave and headed up to their room. He had just left the bathroom and was about to collapse onto his bed when Draco pulled him into a kiss.

“Thank you for for the rose.”

“You’re welcome.” Harry smiled, and threaded his hand through Draco’s.

“And yes to Hogsmeade, it sounds fun.” Draco continued, “Although you need to work on your Valentine skills, I would have expected something a little more cutesy from you.”

“I’ll work on it.” Harry laughed.

The week seemed to last forever. But at last Saturday morning arrived. Draco was taking forever to get ready.

“Your hair looks fine, let’s get going.” Harry whined.

Harry was dressed nicely in a red button down and his warmest, yet still nice looking, pair of pants. He had decided not to touch his hair, it wouldn’t do any good anyways.

“Yes, but you’re not the one that’s going on a very public date with the world’s most famous wizard!” Draco said, still staring into the mirror.

“So, it’s not like I haven’t seen your bed head before, we have shared a living space for almost six months.”

“It’s not for you, it’s for any nosy people that might see us and want to talk shit about me. I have to at least look good. I can’t believe you got the auror detail away for the day.”

“Well, let’s just say I owe Kingsley a big favor sometime in the future. And you still have to stay within ten feet of me the whole day, and they’re tracking you.”

“Oh how romantic, I have to stay close to you or I will get arrested. You could at least not bring it up ten minutes before we’re due to leave.”

“We were supposed to leave fifteen minutes ago. Are you done yet?”

Draco sighed, “This will do, I suppose.”

“Good, let’s go.” Harry smiled and dragged Draco out of the room.

They walked around Hogsmeade for about twenty minutes before Harry heard a familiar voice call his name.

“Harry!” Harry turned to look, letting go of Draco’s hand.

“Andie?” Harry looked to Andromeda, who was pushing a stroller, headed towards them, “What’re you dong here?”

“Well, I thought you were hinting I should bring Teddy up for a day. Who’s this?”

“Oh, right. Andie this is my boyfriend,” He paused tentatively to wait for any sort of reaction from either of them, “Draco. Draco this your Aunt Andromeda.”

“Oh my, you’re Cissa’s son? I haven’t seen you since your mother sent me baby pictures. I’ve avoided the news like the plague this past year, but I do remember Harry mentioning your trial before. I’m glad to see you’re well.”

“Nice to meet you.” Draco smiled awkwardly.

“Anyway, I’m meeting my friend Gretchen up here anyway, I was wondering if you’d watch Teddy for a few hours.”

“I, er, Draco? What do you think?” Harry asked.

“I guess we could watch him. It’s not exactly what we had planned... but I don’t mind.”

“That’s settled, I’ll be back by lunch and then you can have your time together.”

Harry took the stroller as Andie walked away to where ever she was netting her friend. He reached in and cooed at Teddy, “Hey pup, you ready to spend a few hours with your Uncle Harry? I have a new friend for you too, your cousin Draco’s gonna join us.”

“Come say hi Draco.”

“Oh, er, okay.” He came around and smiled at Teddy, “Hi.”

“We should get somewhere warm soon. We can walk around for now, but this little guy is gonna get cold pretty quick, even with a warming charm.” Harry turned back to Teddy, “Isn’t that right?”

Teddy smiled and his hair changed from its inconspicuous brown to a black tangled mess that matched Harry’s.

“Wow, he’s a metamorphmagus?”

“Yeah, his mother was one too.”

They walked along in a companionable silence, eventually coming and stopping at a bookstore to let Teddy in from the cold. Harry lifted Teddy out of the stroller so he could look around for a bit, he sat on one of the cushy chairs and sat Teddy in his lap.

“You wanna hold him?” Harry asked after he noticed Draco staring.

“I, mean, I’ve never held a baby. Are you sure you want me to?”

“Relax, he’s not a newborn, he’s almost one, you just need to hold him so he can face out, make sure he doesn’t fall, or try to crawl away. He’s pretty active and can pretty much walk if he’s holding onto something. You won’t break him.”

“Oh. I think I can do that.” Draco said.

Harry stood up and placed the wide eyed Teddy into Draco’s lap. Teddy twisted to look at who he was sitting with and then his hair turned from the neon orange it had been to a platinum blond.

“He likes you.” Harry smiled.

Draco smiled then stared down to where Teddy had gripped one of his fingers. “He’s squeezing a bit tight.”

“You can pull your hand away.”

“Right.”

“I’m sorry this isn’t exactly the date I had planned.”

“It’s fine.” Draco said, using his fingers to neaten Teddy’s hair, “This isn’t exactly disastrous. And it’s not like our little third wheel does much talking yet.”

“Oh he talks, he’s just a bit shy about it. Hey Ted, can you say Harry?” Harry asked.

“Bababa.” Teddy said with a little smile.

“We’re still working on it. Isn’t that right you cutie, a bababa.” Harry said, smiling, reaching over to tickle Teddy’s belly.

“Aww that’s cute. You’re really good with him.”

“Thanks. Right now it’s not to hard, since I’m at school Andie has custody and I just visit. We’ve planned for me to have weekend custody or something along those lines after I graduate. That’s what I’m a bit scared of. Especially because he’ll probably be spending most of those weekends at Hogwarts.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve been thinking that I’m going to keep the teaching position after the two year mark. I know Hermione wants to get out as soon as she can, and very well could be gone for next year, but I really like what I’m doing. The more I’ve thought about it the more I think being an auror isn’t right. Teaching about those damn case reports when most of us have more field experience before graduating than those aurors ever dreamed of has reminded me that I don’t actually need to spend my life fighting evil. I mean, yeah it’s the Defense job, so there will be a bit of that, but it’s more about students, taking the preventative steps and such.” Harry looked up to find Draco staring intently at him while Teddy played with the button on his cloak, “What?”

“I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Go ahead. I’m not about to say no.”

“But we’re in public and—” Harry had crossed over and shut Draco up with a kiss.

“I don’t really care.”

“Good.”

“We should get going, it’s almost time to meet Andie.”

“Right.”

Harry and Draco didn’t get back until late that night, and fell asleep together in Harry’s bed. Than night within that little nook behind the blue and green curtains all was right with the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are much appreciated!


	32. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, here’s the chapter! I hope you like it!
> 
> -Tay

Draco was a mess, an utter and complete mess. His mum’s trial was right around the corner and he had no idea how it would go. In the latest hours of the night, he often found himself fearing the worst; that she might be sentenced to death or that she might be tortured.

In his more rational moments, he knew neither of those things would happen, but even so... she could be sentenced to life in Azkaban with no visitors allowed. He might never see her again. No, he knew that wouldn’t happen either... right?

Draco sighed. It was a Saturday, four in the morning, if the sky was any indication. Draco had not slept a wink the entire night, his nerves wrapped, like a vice, around his insides. Finally Draco had had enough and decided it was time for him to get up and have a shower.

Carefully, he removed Harry’s arm, which had been draped around him, and settled it onto the bed before sliding his feet onto the ground. He stood and stretched, padding over to the bathroom to wash.

“Muffliato.” Draco whispered, pointing his wand at the bathroom door, so the shower wouldn’t wake Harry.

***

When Draco climbed out of the shower a half an hour later, Harry was brushing his teeth. “Morning.” Harry mumbled, not so much as glancing in Draco’s direction. Draco hastily dried off and pulled on some fresh robes before sidling up to his boyfriend and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

“Hungry?” He asked and Harry nodded.

Together they left the room and headed for the Great Hall. They thought that no one else in their right mind would be awake so early, so they weren’t careful.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, hands intertwined with one another, then Draco’s back was against the wall and Harry’s lips were on his own. And Draco was at ease for a moment, but then there was a sound and reality snapped back in. Harry hadn’t heard it, but Draco, in his ever-growing paranoia, had. He turned his head, only a little, and Harry backed off, looking a little hurt.

Draco turned the rest of the way and saw Ron standing there, his ears as red as his hair, with embarrassment or rage, Draco couldn’t tell. He felt heat rise to his cheeks as Harry stuttered out something unintelligible.

Draco didn’t know what to say, what to do with his limbs- which suddenly seemed bulky and awkward. Before he could figure anything out, Ron was stalking towards him, his wand pointed directly at Draco’s throat. “Oi! What in the bloody hell are you playing at? What’d you do, slip a love potion into his pumpkin juice so he’d save you from going to Azkaban?” Ron shouted, as he drew nearer. And now Draco could feel Ron’s breath on his face, just as real as the wand jabbed against his throat.

Fear clouded out everything in Draco’s mind as thoughts of the Cruciatus Curse bubbled their way to the surface. He closed his eyes. “I didn’t.” Draco said and loathed how scared he sounded.

Suddenly the wand was gone. Draco opened his eyes to find that Ron was face to face with Harry now. Draco wasn’t sure whether Harry had pulled Ron away or Ron had simply decided to redirect his anger, but either way, his attention was now on Harry. “What’s wrong with you, huh? I come downstairs for some peace and quiet only for you to come down snogging Malfoy an hour later! Malfoy! Draco fucking Malfoy, Harry! What are you doing, having a laugh or something? Do you think this is funny?”

Harry only glared and glared and glared. The minutes stretched on into hours... into days or maybe weeks. Finally, Ron scoffed and went up the stairs, being quite sure to ram his shoulder into Draco on the way up.

Once they were sure he was gone, Harry turned to Draco, rubbing the back of his neck and said, “That went well.”

***

By the following night, Ron still was refusing to speak to Harry, something Draco could tell that Harry was really bothered by. His reassurances that ‘everything would be alright’ and ‘Ron would come around eventually’ did nothing to convince either of them. For, they both knew, Ron could be quite stubborn when he wanted to be.

Harry’s mood was growing more and more sour as the night wore on, and with it went Draco’s. Though rather than becoming sour, he became anxious to the point of constant pacing around their dorm room.

Back and forth and back again. Draco could see that it was wearing on Harry’s nerves, but he could not get himself to stop.

His body craved the routine motion. It was... reassuring, in a way.

“Would you quit it?” Harry snapped after an hour or so of this.

Draco’s step faltered. He ducked his head and said, “Sorry, I’m just worried, is all. What with my mum’s trial coming up and... yeah.” He trailed off, his eyes on the floor. He looked up then, straight into Harry’s bright green eyes, unlike any he’d ever seen, and asked, “You’re testifying, right?”

Harry nodded.

“Couldn’t you tell me what you’re going to say, you know, about her?”

Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. “I’m not allowed, its all classified, you know that. I can’t tell you anything about how I’m going to testify, I can’t even tell you which way I’m going to go.”

“Since when have you cared about upholding the rules?” Draco asked and he couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice.

“This is bigger than breaking a couple of school rules and you know it.” Harry fired back.

“So what? It’s bigger than breaking into the Ministry? Bigger than stealing from Gringotts and freeing a dragon? Bigger than fighting You-Know-Who half a dozen times and killing him? You could do all of that and now you’re what? Afraid of a slap on the wrist?” Draco shouted.

And Harry had the same look on his face that he’d had when Ron shouted at him. Anger and hurt mingled into one look, but Draco didn’t care. He didn’t understand why Harry wouldn’t tell him anything.

When it became clear that neither would give in, Draco climbed into his bed, waving his wand and plunging the room into darkness.

He didn’t fall asleep, it was impossible, what with the tension that was palpable in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Remember to leave comments and kudos! We’re getting down to the final chapters here and there will be a lot of double updates coming up, so be on the lookout. :)
> 
> -Tay
> 
> P.S. For those of you who are in school(or literally just alive in this cursed year), I know things are super stressful right now (for Appie and I as well) so just remember to step back and take a breath every once in a while. We love you all. <3


	33. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this is late! I fell asleep mid afternoon yesterday and got like 14 hours of sleep.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

The two weeks leading up to the trial were utter shit. Draco wasn’t talking to him, and neither was Ron, though Ron seemed to be heading towards some sort of reconciliation. Draco, however, was on edge all the time. Worse than back in the fall when it was his trial. Though, Harry supposed, most were more concerned for their loved ones rather than themselves in times of crisis.

Not that Draco had much to worry about. Harry hated that he couldn’t tell him anything, but the form he had signed for each trial had been spelled so he couldn’t talk about it until after the trial.

Narcissa was likely to get off without much more than some house arrest. There was actual evidence in her favor rather than little to none against her, as was the case with Draco.

The morning of the trial dawned and Draco was already gone. Harry assumed Draco was accompanying his mother to the trial, so he wasn’t surprised.

Harry got dressed in a dark gray shirt and put on a pair of gold snitch shaped cuff links Arthur had gotten him for Christmas. A pair of black pants and his nicest robes, dark red hemmed with gold completed the look.He went down to breakfast, then straight to Hogsmeade to disapparate.

He landed in the atrium of the Ministry and made his way down to the courtrooms before anyone could spot him. At Draco’s trial it had helped that he had made an entrance, today it was important to actually be on time. It would hopefully make Draco worry less.

Slowly people started to flood in, and roughly an hour later Harry was seated in the same chair he was in in November, Andromeda on his left.

The wizard in charge of the trial called everyone to order and began. Andromeda was called up first as a character reference.

“You are Mrs. Malfoy’s estranged sister correct?” The wizard asked.

“Yes, and if you don’t mind, I will say my piece and take my leave. I have a one year old grandson at home that I should get back to.”

“Go ahead Mrs. Tonks.”

“Thank you. My sister Narcissa and I have an ugly history, not as ugly as I had withwith Bellatrix, mind you, but still not ideal. Narcissa and I had a falling out around the time we both got married, I had fallen in love with my Ted who was a Muggleborn, Narcissa had fallen for Lucius. While we had been raised on the traditional pureblood ideals of thinking Muggleborns were lesser, Bella was really the only one who actually believed it. Narcissa couldn’t have cared less who I married, she even sent me photos when her son was born. She married for love and her love bought into the ideas of pureblood supremacy. She reached out to me around Christmas, sending a heartfelt letter of apology and we have been exchanging letters ever since.”

“Thank you Mrs. Tonks.” The wizard paused, “Up next we will be hearing from Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, Order of Merlin First Class, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

Harry sighed and stood up to take his seat in the witness chair, somehow they had added a new title to him since the last trial. Granted it was one he had held for nearly eigtheen years, but he had figured they decided it didn’t count at the last trial. Apparently the boy who lived would be his title for life.

The wizard prompted him before he had even sat down completely, “Mr. Potter, can you begin by telling us all the times you interacted with Mrs. Malfoy beginning with the night you-know-who returned.”

“Well, she wasn’t there the night Voldemort returned. The only Malfoy in that cemetery was Lucius. The next time I saw her she was minding her own business in Madam Malkins the summer before my sixth year.” Harry said

“What do you mean minding her own business?”

So that was how this was going to be? Harry smirked and said, “Well just that. Getting robes, what else would you do at a robe shop? I assume either she or Draco or Lucius needed new robes.”

“And the next time you saw her?”

“That was when me and my friends were captured and taken to Malfoy manor. She didn’t say or do much there. She identified my friend Hermione to the others, but that was it.”

“So you’re saying she is the reason you were detained in the manor?”

“Not really, they would’ve kept us as prisoners regardless of whether we were who they were searching for or not. Bellatrix would have likely kept us as playthings for her to torture. And Lucius recognized Ron pretty quickly.”

“Was Narcissa at the Battle of Hogwarts?”

“Yes. However, she was completely unarmed. When I saw her son during the battle, he was wielding her wand. She gave up her only protection in the middle of the battlefield so that her son could have a chance at surviving.” There seemed to be a pause, apparently the Mistry wasn’t prepared for him to say that.

“She was also there when Voldemort’s killing curse struck me for the second time. Contrary to popular belief, I actually did die when that curse struck. Just as I came back to this side of life, I heard Voldemort order someone to check and see if I was dead. The only thing I could think to do was lie there and hope that whoever checked was stupid enough not to check for my heartbeat. Then I felt these kind hands calmly check for my heartbeat, there was a second where I thought I was a goner. But then I hear these barely audible words in my ear ‘Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?’ The last time I had seen Draco I had saved him from a fire, I assumed that as long as he wasn’t being too stupid or hadn’t gotten in Voldemort’s way he should still be alive, so I told her ‘yes.’

“She then went and told Voldemort that I was dead. I assume she was using some of the best occlumency in the world, as he would most certainly have used legilimency to check if she was lying on such an important matter.”

“Thank you Mr. Potter.” The wizard said, his face expressionless.

Harry returned to his seat and then looked around. He realized that it should be Draco’s turn to speak, but Draco was nowhere to be seen.

Then the doors opened and Draco was brought in escorted by three aurors.


	34. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!!!!!!!!!
> 
> —Tay
> 
> P.S. Sorry this is late. I had Sectionals last night and Appie fell asleep at like 4pm. 😂

Draco was a nervous wreck. He hadn’t spoken to Harry at all since their ‘fight’ and now he had no idea what to expect. He paced back and forth in the hall. Nymphadora’s auror friend was back, she’d been the one to escort him here today, but she hadn’t been alone. Two other Aurora had joined them in Hogsmeade. The three of them seemed friendly with one another, but Draco wasn’t sure how that would translate over to him.

Nymphadora’s friend, who turned out to be named Jess, offered him a reassuring smile when she’d met up to collect him, but it did little to calm his nerves.

“Stop pacing,” The largest auror said, crossing his arms and giving Draco a pointed stare, “You’re going to make yourself sick if you keep that up.”

“He’s right you know.” Said the female auror who had long bushy hair that reminded him vaguely of Hermione.

“Sorry,” Draco muttered and leaned against the wall opposite the three of them.

“You know, Tonks’s mum is testifying,” Jess said nonchalantly.

Draco jolted up, “What? She is?”

Jess nodded, “Yeah, she might even be going right now.”

“Do you know what she’s saying?” Draco asked, desperate for anything that might indicate what would happen to his mother.

The male auror spoke then, turning Draco’s attention, “You didn’t read the paper you signed in order to testify, did you?”

“Not closely.” Draco admitted.

The female auror laughed, “No one knows what anyone is going to say because that paper forbid all those testifying to speak about it. Go on, try to tell me what you’re going to say.”

Draco opened his mouth to tell them that he was going to do everything he could to protect his mum, but no words came out.

“See?” She said, “Only you know what you plan to say.”

So that is why Harry hadn’t told Draco, it wasn’t because he didn’t want to, it was because he physically couldn’t. Maybe there was hope after all!

A small portion of Draco’s nerves dissipated, leaving him feeling lighter than before.

Down the corridor, a door opened and a stout ministry witch scurried out. “Come on in Mr. Malfoy.”

Draco followed the witch into the circular room and took the empty seat beside his mother. She was bound to the chair, just as he had been during his trial. When he sat, he expected the chains to entrap his as well, but they remained dormant. He sighed, a little relieved.

“Mr. Malfoy, you are the son of Narcissa and Lucius, are you not?” The head wizard asked, his voice booming and echoing around the room.

“I am.”

“And you lived with your mother and father your whole life up until you began attending Hogwarts?”

“Yes.”

“You returned to them for the holidays though, is that correct?”

“It is.”

“Throughout your childhood, did Narcissa ever express interest in You-Know-Who’s revival?”

“No.”

“Once You-Know-Who came back, did she express interest in being branded with the Dark mark?”

“No, she didn’t want to be a death eater.”

“Did she tell you she didn’t want to be one?”

“Well, not in those words. But I overheard her talking to Bellatrix. Bellatrix was trying to convince her, talking about what a great honor it was and mum said no. And saying no to the mark is the same as saying no to the job itself.”

“And yet she still welcomed You-Know-Who into your home, into the manor. She let him set up his base there, right?”

“If by ‘let’ you mean she didn’t stop him, then yes, she let him set his base at our house. But do not be mistaken, she did not want him there. At that point, even my dad was sick of him. But there was no stopping him, not if you wanted to live.”

“And how many people have you witnessed her kill?”

“What?” He faltered, somehow surprised by the question.

“How many people have you seen die at her hand?”

“No one, I- she’s never killed anyone.” It was the truth, while Draco’s father had no qualms with murder, his mum had always distanced herself from it.

“Have you ever seen her use an unforgivable curse or attempted to use one?”

Draco shook his head. “No.”

Murmurs had broken out among the Wizengamot and Draco’s stomach churned. He wasn’t sure what to think.

“Thank you, that will be all. We will now have a brief recess to discuss the verdict. We will reconvene in fifteen minutes.”

Draco stood and was led out by his aurors and the witch who had originally fetched him. With a glance over his shoulder he saw a group of aurors leading his mum through the door that led to the holding cells.

Once they were in the hall, Jess turned to Draco and said, “I think that went well.”

The Ministry witch nodded, “They haven’t got much evidence against her, but the Wizengamot members who are here today are the toughest of the bunch. They aren’t ones to let her off easy.”

Fifteen minutes later Draco reentered the room. He peered up into the hard faces of the Wizengamot and gulped. None of their expressions gave any indication of what the outcome would be.

Draco waited with baited breath as the head wizard who had questioned him cleared his throat and began to speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger! Hope you liked the chapter though and stay tuned to find out what happens to Narcissa. Comment what you think the verdict will be!
> 
> All my love <3  
> —Tay


	35. Harry: The Verdict

Harry waited out the fifteen minute recess in his seat. He considered going out after Draco, but since the trial was still in process they might be finicky about letting someone interact with the convicted death eater, regardless of their relationship status.

When the session restarted, Draco was escorted in to hear the verdict. The aurors had pinned his hands behind his back, but Draco didn’t seem to care, his eyes looking up intently at the people who were to decide his mother’s fate.

“The Wizengamot shall come to order.” The head wizard spoke, “The Wizengamot shall now decide which charges NarcissaMalfoy is found guilty of. For the crime of the use of the Unforgivable curses, those who say guilty please stand.”

Harry watched as no one stood.

“For the crime of being a part of Voldemort’s Death Eaters, those who say she is guilty, please stand.”

A few stood, but clearly not a majority.

“And finally for the crime of allowing a terrorist residence in her home and playing part in his schemes.”

Quite a few stood, enough that Harry couldn’t tell whether or not they were declaring her innocent or guilty.

Harry sat impatiently as the wizard paused to count the vote.

“Narcissa Malfoy, you are hereby charged with allowing a terrorist residence in your home and playing part in his schemes. You shall be sentenced to eighteen months on house arrest and three years probation with regular ministry check ins. Do you understand?”

Narcissa held her head high, “Yes.”

Harry let out a breath as the wizard went through his concluding remarks, the last trial was over. Narcissa wasn’t going to Azkaban. Harry had stepped from behind the short barrier into the main part of the courtroom when he was crashed into by someone.

Not someone, Draco.

“I’msorryIwasatotalidiotIshouldhavetrustedyouIloveyou.” Draco said without a breath, almost too quickly for Harry to comprehend the last part.

“I love you too, you git.” Harry said, damning the consequences and kissing Draco.

“Ahem.” A voice called from behind them.

Draco pulled away awkwardly. “Oh, er, hello mother.”

“Hi Mrs. Malfoy.” Harry said, trying not to blush.

“Hello Draco, Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter, I’d like to thank you for what you said today. I don’t like to think what would have happened today if not for you.”

“You’re welcome, though, I don’t see why I wouldn’t have helped.”

“And now onto the matter of you kissing my son.”

“Right, that.” Harry fought the urge to look down at his feet.

“Draco, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, it happened so recently and you had today to focus on, and I didn’t know how you would react, so I just kind of left it out of my letters.”

“You know, I only really care for your happiness right?”

Draco nodded.

“And you are happy with Harry, are you not?”

Draco reached down and took Harry’s hand and smiled, “I am happy, very much so.”

“I have no reason to object, though I expect a bit more of a formal greeting of your new boyfriend sometime in the future. Preferably the near future.” She smiled.

“Of course.”

“Well, then, the aurors are likely getting antsy waiting for me, so I should get home. I will see you over the Easter holidays, Draco. Do take care of him, Mr. Potter.”

“I will.” Harry said, slightly astounded by the interaction he just witnessed.

Narcissa smiled, reached over and gave Draco’s other hand a squeeze and walked out flanked by the aurors assigned to her.

“That went well.” Harry said, “You ready to head back?”

“Yes, I feel like I haven’t slept in a week.”

“That’s because you haven’t. We might not have been speaking, but I still noticed you were awake.”

“Right.”

“C’mon, our friends are likely waiting to hear the verdict.”

“No party this time?”

“Honestly, I don’t know, we’ll find out when we get there.”

Draco leaned in and kissed Harry’s cheek and they left the courtroom hand in hand.

There wasn’t a party when they returned. The former Slytherins pulled Draco aside to talk details, and hear the verdict. Harry wandered to their room, while Draco caught up with his friends.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door.

Harry went to open it to find Ron on the other side.

“Ron. What’re you doing here?”

“I came to apologize.”

Harry nodded and let him into the room.

“I’m sorry. When I saw you kissing Malfoy, I freaked out. I guess I never thought you two would actually like each other. I suppose I needed a bit of time to process what I saw. I want you to know I really don’t care who you date so long as they treat you well. I can tell you’re really happy with Malfoy. I noticed you and him weren’t talking though, I hope everything’s all right and I didn’t mess things up between you.”

“No, Draco was anxious about his mother’s trial and we had a stupid fight. We’re all good now. There’s probably gonna be a story about us on the front page of _The Prophet_ tomorrow, actually. I might have kissed him right after the trial... in front of everyone.”

“Please spare me the details. But we’re good?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess I should go now. Malfoy is probably done talking to his friends and looking for some alone time with you.”

Harry fought the urge to blush.

“See you later.” Ron gave a small wave and left.

Not even thirty seconds later Draco came into the room and collapsed onto Harry’s bed.

“I thought he’d never leave.”

Harry smiled and ran a hand through Draco’s hair. “Should we talk about what we said. Before your mother interrupted us?”

Draco rolled over and stared up at Harry “I meant it. I love you. I think I have for a while now.”

“I think I’ve loved you for a while now too.” Harry smiled.

Draco sat up and pulled Harry into a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you might have noticed this chapter has a name. Well, Tay got a bit bored and decided to go through and name our chapters. So you will most certainly be seeing more of those as we continue!
> 
> Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrated last night. If you didn’t then Happy Friday!!
> 
> As always please leave comments and kudos! We love to see what you think!
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie


	36. Draco: Quidditch

Draco was happier than he had been in a long time, happier than ever before, if he was being honest with himself. He had been operating under a heady bliss ever since the conclusion of his mum’s trial. The feeling was so strong that he had been able to ignore all of the articles speculating about his and Harry’s relationship.

It was like everything that had been pressing Draco down had lifted and he could finally move freely. The secret was out, everyone who he and Harry were together, and his mum hadn’t been sent to Azkaban. Draco could focus on the things that had been important to him before all of those horrible things had happened; his classes and Quidditch.

So, Draco was incredibly excited to have a Quidditch match coming up against the Gryffindor team. He was ready to destroy them. Since Harry had previously been their captain, the team had great insight to all of the Gryffindor players mindset and playing styles. Draco was confident that his team would win, they were flying better than ever before. That was until three days before the match when Padma spilled a boil inducing potion all over herself and had to be rushed to St. Mungo’s. McGonagall had assured all of the eighth years that she would be fine, but that still put them down a chaser for the match.

He was laying on a sofa in the common room, his head in Harry’s lap. Harry ran a hand through his hair and said, “Why don’t you play chaser?”

Draco looked up in Harry’s eyes, trying to figure out if he was being genuine. “I’ve never been a chaser before, I have no idea if I’d be any good at it.”

“You’ve played chaser with us at practices,” Harry countered, “And think, you’re probably the only eighth year who’s in shape to play with us.”

Draco sighed, “I guess you’re right, I’ll give it a try, just catch the snitch fast so I don’t embarrass myself too much.”

Harry laughed, “I’ll do my best. But I have to say, Ginny’s really good, she used to beat me when I would play at the Burrow.”

“I swear, Har, if you lose to her, she’ll never let you live it down.”

***

That Saturday, Draco filed onto the Quidditch pitch with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Blaise, Pansy and Hannah. Across the way, there was the Gryffindor team, led by their captain and seeker, Ginny. A smirk played across Ginny’s face as she shook Draco’s hand. She considered her team to have already won.

Just before they took off into the air, Draco thought he saw one of the beaters offer Harry a nervous wave. He turned his head back to see if Harry would return it, but then the whistle blew and they were off.

Draco snatched the Quaffle out of the air and wove past one of Gryffindor’s chasers, Robins was her name, he thought. But he was still unsure of himself and was quick to pass it to Hannah. She shot for the middle hoop after feigning the right hoop and scored, putting them up 10-0 as the announcer soon echoed.

As Draco returned to the center of the pitch, he glanced up to see Harry grinning at him. He couldn’t help but grin right back.

Half an hour later the eighth years were up; 70-20, but it was still anyone’s game. Twice Harry had almost reached the snitch, only for Ginny to intercept his path and make them both lose it. Once Ginny had seen it and Harry hadn’t, it had been an arm’s length away when Hermione had sent a Bludger her way, knocking her from her broom. She had been fine, and flying again within a minute, but at that point, the snitch had once again disappeared from sight.

Just then, it began to rain. It didn’t come on slowly, but rather abruptly and all at once. One minute it was clear skies, the next, it was pouring harder than it had in a long while. And Draco knew they were in trouble, his team hadn’t been rained on during any practices, Ginny’s had. In fact, they’d practiced straight through a snowstorm on several occasions. They had the advantage now.

Blaise gave him an apprehensive look and Draco knew he’d been thinking the same thing.

“Harry!” Draco called and Harry soared over to hover by his side.

“Yeah?”

“Find that damn snitch.” Harry nodded, “It’s time to end this.” And with that, Harry flew back into the air, swiveling on the spot in search of the snitch. Draco turned to face the rest of his team and said, “Pansy, Hermione, keep up what you’re doing, you too Ron, Blaise, Hannah, we’ve got to get a margin over 150 in case Ginny gets the snitch.” The pair of them nodded and Madam Hooch sent us off again.

Visibility was steadily shrinking, so much so that after another hour, Draco couldn’t see from one end of the pitch to the other. He doubted that the spectators were enjoying their time, drenched and unable to see what was happening.

Suddenly, just as Draco was about to take a shot, a Bludger came out of nowhere and crashed into his shoulder. He groaned, but somehow managed to keep hold of the Quaffle. He launched it towards the right hoop, but Gryffindor’s new keeper caught it and passed it off to one of their chasers.

Another hour came and went, Draco had managed to score three times, with Blaise and Hannah each scoring twice, but Gryffindor had scored too. Last Draco had heard, the announcer had said the score was 320-240, giving them an 80 point lead. Draco was still uneasy though, they could still lose. It all came down to Ginny and Harry.

Just then, the crowd erupted in a cacophony of cheers and boos. The announcer was shouting, and all Draco managed to catch was that the match was over, the snitch had been caught. But who had caught it? Draco froze in the air, hovering in line with the goal posts, listening hard for the final score. The rain was pounding around him, but between the splashing drops he heard it, “470-240.” They had done it! Harry had done it!

Draco landed and found Harry, standing a ways off, the snitch clutched in his hand. He rushed over and wrapped Harry in a bone crushing hug. Moments later, Ron was there, then Hermione and Blaise, then Pansy and Hannah and the whole team was hugging and laughing. This put them at the top going into the House Cup Championship matches.

Ginny and the other Gryffindors came over and congratulated them on their win and then they headed their separate ways to the changing rooms.

***

Of course, there was a party in the eighth year common room waiting for the team when they got back. But Draco wasn’t really in the mood to party, he just wanted to celebrate with his boyfriend... in their room. But Draco was the captain and he had to stay, at least for a little while. Many of the seventh years from the various houses had found their way up to the common room and joined in the festivities, even Ginny, despite her loss had decided to join in.

Draco was determined to stay sober, however Harry seemed to have a differing idea of how to conduct himself. Throughout the night, Draco watched Harry down more alcohol than he could count. A little past one in the morning, Draco determined that Harry had had enough.

“Hey, love,” Draco said, gently removing the glass from Harry’s grip, “Come to bed.” Harry seemed to be about to retort so Draco continued, “If you have anymore, you’re going to feel dreadful in the morning, hell you’re already going to feel pretty shitty.”

Harry glared, but allowed him to lead him up the stairs none the less. Draco tucked Harry into bed, kissed his forehead then crossed the room and settled into his own bed.

He fell asleep, content. Everything was well with the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re getting down to the final countdown here! Only six chapters left! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with us throughout this journey.
> 
> —Tay :)


	37. Harry: The Anniversary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s Appie’s lovely chapter!
> 
> —Tay <3

The rest of March and April passed with a blur. Draco had gone home for the Easter holidays and Harry had made a visit in the middle of the break, to fulfill that ‘proper meeting’ Narcissa had wanted. Going to the Manor was a bit daunting, but it was that or wait out the next eighteen months until Narcissa could leave, which was a terrible idea for many, many reasons.

When classes restarted the last week of April a sort of cloud swept over the castle. Everyone could feel it. It was in the haunted looks in the eyes of the upper years, the jumpiness in the lower years, the Slytherins watching their backs for ‘vengeance seekers’ more than usual. The teachers assigned less work, despite exams being right around the corner. The first years, especially Muggle borns, became more of the fans they were back in September than the students Harry had come to know.

The anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts was upon them.

The actual day of was on a Sunday, no classes, though he was pretty sure McGonagall would have cancelled them if it were a weekday.

Harry couldn’t even get out of bed.

“Love?” Draco had a hand on his shoulder, “You okay? It’s almost lunch, I was gonna go down and get some food, do you want any?”

Harry rolled over and looked up at Draco, he looked to be barely holding it together himself.

“Bring some for both of us? Eat up here with me?” He asked, even though he wasn’t super hungry.

“Of course.” Draco seemed to relax a bit.

Draco returned twenty minutes later with a bundle of food. He climbed into the bed next to Harry and laid the little picnic bundle on both their laps.

“I got some of your favorites. If you wanna talk I’m here.” Draco said, wrapping his arm around Harry and putting a piece of fruit in his mouth.

When Harry finally started to dig into the food it was nearly an hour later. He quickly realized how hungry he was from not eating all day and consumed it rather quickly. Draco sat next to him reading a book, glancing over at Harry whenever he turned the page.

“Thank you for being so awesome.” Harry said, leaning his face into Draco’s side so it came out muffled.

“We all have hard days, and though I think everyone is feeling it today, you probably have the most reason to stay in bed today.”

Harry hummed in response.

Eventually Harry started reading over Draco’s shoulders to find it was a book of Muggle fairy tales. They fell asleep like that sometime around sunset, cuddled close and letting some of the day’s emotions wash away.

Someone’s wand alarm went off the next morning, likely Draco’s. Harry reached across Draco and slapped it onto the floor making it shut off.

“Morning.” Draco said. “Feeling better?”

“A bit. But mostly because I’ve got an interesting lesson planned for the eighth years this morning.”

“Oh really? Please don’t make it too hard, I’m pretty sure no one has the brain capacity for that.”

“Hard is a relative term for this lesson, but I’m pretty sure everyone will feel better by the end of it.”

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.” Draco leaned up to kiss him.

The two eventually made it down to the Great Hall. Harry practically had to drag Draco to the staff table to eat. “C’mon, if Hermione can bring Neville up here you can sit here too.”

“Fine. Why do you wanna sit up here so much anyway?”

“Aside from not wanting to sit near a bunch of people who will try to thank me for being a hero or some shit? Maybe I just want a quiet breakfast with my boyfriend.” Harry squeezed Draco’s hand and kissed his cheek.

“Oh right, that.”

Draco conceded and they had a lovely breakfast up at the staff table. They then returned to their room for their bags and then went straight for the defense classroom.

Draco plopped his bag in his chair then came over to where Harry was setting up the mats.

“Are we doing practical stuff today? I don’t think dueling’s all that good for today.” Draco leaned against the wall, looking bored.

“Practical, yes, dueling, no.” Harry said, “You can either help or wait outside until class starts.”

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes and came over to help.

By the time they finished Hermione had shown up and was sitting side by side with Neville on the front desk.

“You ready to let the rabble in?” Harry asked.

“Sure.” Hermione hopped off the desk and let the others in.

Once everyone was seated, Harry began the lesson, “Okay, so I know we’re all feeling pretty shitty after yesterday and likely all should be seeing mind healers, so I thought it’d be nice to do a more uplifting lesson. But fair warning we are starting the real review for NEWTs tomorrow.”

“Can anyone tell us what charm we were studying way back in March before Easter hols?” Asked Hermione, “Hannah?”

“The Patronus Charm.”

Harry smiled, “Quite right. Today we’re taking a bit of a break from the darker side of this class and performing the actual charm. Now, I doubt that any of us will ever encounter a dementor ever again, but it could be on the practical exam, it’s quite an uplifting charm, and we all need some of that right now. If you do encounter a dementor in the future, you’ll need this charm. I know many of you already can do it, or just need a bit more practice so hopefully this will be a pretty easy lesson. If you don’t get it today, first don’t feel bad it’s a pretty hard charm, and if you want more tips come see me or Hermione outside of class. And with that everyone over to the mats, let’s get started.”

They did a quick demonstration then they set everyone up in a big circle facing outwards, so as not to distract each other. Harry and Hermione roamed the inside of the circle making little corrections. Ron produced it right away, as did Macmillan, though both had been able to do it before class.

About twenty minutes later Neville got it, a giant silvery lion bounded out into the room.

“Once you get it you can let it wander around the room, but if you get tired banish it. I will not be responsible for anyone collapsing from depleted magical energy in this class.” Harry called out.

Neville was quickly followed by Blaise, who’s patronus was a snake, then Hannah whose was a horse of some sort.

Many of the others were very close, the mist almost taking shape for many of them. Eventually the circle kind of deformed due to people turning to look at whoever had just gotten their patronus.

Near the end of the lesson Hermione called out. “Ok the last thing you need to be able to do is do it under pressure of people watching. Vanish your patronuses, we’re gonna try it one by one.”

Harry walked over to Draco, who had been struggling, he was the only one who was left without a patronus at this point, though Harry thought he had been pretty close a few times.

“What am I doing wrong?” He asked desperately.

“Nothing, I think you’re just not feeling enough. You have a tendency to over analyze, when it’s your turn just feel, point your wand, and say the words. The rest will work itself out.” Harry said, wrapping his hand around Draco’s wrist to lower it.

“You sure?”

“Just try it.”

“Fine.”

One by one people went up to the middle of the room and recast their animal to varying degrees of success. A few like Susan and Justin only managed mist where they had been fine earlier.

“Ok Draco, you’re up.” Hermione said.

Draco let out a deep breath, and walked out to the mats. Harry watched him ponder for a moment then he took his stance.

“ _Expecto Patronum_ ,” He gave his wand a slight wave and out bounded a silver hyena.

Draco stared at it in disbelief for a moment, then vanished it and came over to Harry, “I did it.”

Harry kissed Draco’s right cheek, “You sure did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to leave her some comments to let her know you enjoyed it! 
> 
> —Tay


	38. Draco: The Patronus Charm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is actually my favorite chapter of all of the one’s I have written for this fic so I hope you like it!
> 
> —Tay <3

Draco had been worried about Harry all morning. Harry hadn’t gotten out of bed for breakfast, in fact, he hadn’t so much as moved since Draco had awoken. Draco knew what day it was, of course he did. He thought there couldn’t be a single soul in the castle who didn’t know what day it was. Even the muggleborn first years knew, the whole school had been muttering about it for the past week, but now, no one dared whisper, no dared say anything at all.

Finally, when it neared lunchtime, Draco plucked up the courage to go and talk to Harry, console him if he could, maybe even get him to eat something. “Love? You okay? It’s almost lunch, I was gonna go down and get some food, do you want any?”

Harry turned over slowly, looking up at Draco with bleary eyes. Draco wondered if Harry had been crying. Draco waited for Harry’s response, the seconds dragging on into minutes and Draco began to fear that Harry wouldn’t respond at all.

But then Harry spoke, his voice gravely and cracked. “Bring some for both of us? Eat up here with me?”

“Of course.” Draco replied and some of the tension left his body. A part of him had been worried that Harry would think back on the events of last year’s war and recall the hatred he had felt towards Draco. Then we would remember that he was a death eater and decide it was best if they broke up. But Harry wanted to eat with him, Harry wanted his company!

Draco hurried down to the kitchens and prepared a little picnic for the pair of them to share. The trip couldn’t have taken more than twenty minutes, but by the time he got back, Harry had pulled himself up into a sitting position. Draco slid into the bed beside Harry and pulled the comforter over top of him, snuggling in close to his boyfriend before laying out the carefully chosen meal.

“I got some of your favorites. If you wanna talk I’m here.” Draco whispered into Harry’s dark hair as he slung an arm gently around Harry’s shoulders and held up a bit of fruit to Harry’s lips.

They sat together for over an hour, basking in each other’s warmth before Harry began to really eat, rather than picking at it. Fearing Harry would stop if Draco acknowledged the change in any way, he leaned over and swiped a book from the nightstand, idly flipping through the pages and pretending to read it, while secretly sneaking period glances in Harry’s direction.

“Thank you for being so awesome.” Harry mumbled once he had finished his portion of the meal. He moved closer to Draco, and buried his face.

“We all have hard days, and though I think everyone is feeling it today, you probably have the most reason to stay in bed today.” Draco said, running his fingers through Harry’s hair.

Harry hummed in response.

***

The next morning Draco’s alarm on his wand went off, shrieking and buzzing, but Draco didn’t feel like moving, Harry was so warm and soft pressed up against him. However, it seemed as though Harry had over ideas as he flung himself across the bed and smacked the wand onto the ground.

“Morning.” Draco said, working hard to suppress his laughter. “Feeling better?”

“A bit. But mostly because I’ve got an interesting lesson planned for the eighth years this morning.” Harry replied ominously.

“Oh really? Please don’t make it too hard, I’m pretty sure no one has the brain capacity for that.” Draco said, still groggy as they slid from the bed. Draco padded across the room and into their bathroom to brush his teeth. Should he shower today?

“Hard is a relative term for this lesson, but I’m pretty sure everyone will feel better by the end of it.” No, he didn’t need to shower, he smelled like Harry- like a mix of treacle tart, broomsticks and something else, something that was entirely his own.

Draco brushed his teeth quickly and reentered the room to find Harry pulling on his robes. 

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.” Draco grinning, giving him a soft kiss.

***

A little under two hours later, Draco and Harry had finally made it to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Draco helped Harry to set everything up and then class started- Draco still had no idea what Harry had planned.

“Okay, so I know we’re all feeling pretty shitty after yesterday and likely all should be seeing mind healers, so I thought it’d be nice to do a more uplifting lesson. But fair warning we are starting the real review for NEWTs tomorrow.”

“Can anyone tell us what charm we were studying way back in March before Easter hols?” Asked Hermione, “Hannah?”

“The Patronus Charm.” Hannah said.

“Quite right. Today we’re taking a bit of a break from the darker side of this class and performing the actual charm. Now, I doubt that any of us will ever encounter a dementor ever again, but it could be on the practical exam, it’s quite an uplifting charm, and we all need some of that right now. If you do encounter a dementor in the future, you’ll need this charm. I know many of you already can do it, or just need a bit more practice so hopefully this will be a pretty easy lesson. If you don’t get it today, first don’t feel bad it’s a pretty hard charm, and if you want more tips come see me or Hermione outside of class. And with that everyone over to the mats, let’s get started.”

Harry showed off his stag and Hermione, her otter and then they were off all trying to produce their own. Ron of course got his Jack Russel Terrier to make an appearance without issue, followed almost immediately by Ernie Macmillan’s boar.

About twenty minutes later Neville got it, a giant silvery lion bounded out into the room.

“Once you get it you can let it wander around the room, but if you get tired banish it. I will not be responsible for anyone collapsing from depleted magical energy in this class.” Harry said, glaring pointedly at Neville.

Blaise and Hannah were next to master theirs, an Anaconda and Percheron respectively. But Draco was still struggling to even form a noncorporeal Patronus. A happy enough memory just refused to come.

He first tried thinking of his seventh birthday, then when he had received his Hogwarts letter, when he’d been sorted into Slytherin, when he had made it onto the Quidditch team. But nothing worked. All were tainted with bad memories now. His seventh birthday, often regarded as his best one,and him getting his Hogwarts letter, had both taken place in the Manor, a place he could hardly bare to enter now. Slytherin house reminded him of He Who Must Not Be Named, making him wish he’d ended up in any other house. And he had only made the Quidditch team because his father had been pulling the strings, a father that he couldn’t stand to visit.

“Ok the last thing you need to be able to do is do it under pressure of people watching. Vanish your patronuses, we’re gonna try it one by one.” Hermione called out, reassembling the group. Panic shot through Draco, he would be the only one who couldn’t do it!

Harry seemed to notice Draco’s worry because he strode over to him. “What am I doing wrong?” Draco asked, pleading Harry to have some answer.

“Nothing, I think you’re just not feeling enough. You have a tendency to over analyze, when it’s your turn just feel, point your wand, and say the words. The rest will work itself out.” Harry smiled, and gently lowered Draco’s wrist.

“You sure?”

“Just try it.”

“Fine.” Draco’s worry didn’t leave him, but it did ebb slightly. He let out a long calming breath and watched as the others made their patronus’s appear and move around the room before fading into air and mist.

“Ok Draco, you’re up.” Hermione said. Draco gulped and stepped forward, raising his wand with a hand that only slightly shook.

_Think! What is your happiest memory?_ And then it came to him, clear and wonderful, filling him with warmth. _Not one memory, but a person- Harry. Harry saving him from the flames, Harry taking him to Hogsmeade, Harry showing him the stars, Harry’s laugh, Harry’s smile, Harry’s voice, his warmth, his eyes, the way he always saw the best in people, the best in him._

“ _Expecto Patronum_ ,” He gave his wand a slight wave and out bounded a great silver hyena. _Harry who knew him better than he knew himself. Harry who had somehow known of Draco’s connection with hyenas before Draco had known it._

Draco watched it pranced around the room for a minute longer, in awe of its very existence and the mind of the boy beside him, before he waved his wand and made it vanish. He turned to Harry, beaming from ear to ear at the spectacular, wonderful being before him and whispered, “I did it.”

Harry leaned forward, grinning just as broadly and kissed his cheek. “You sure did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be sure to leave me some comments! I love to read them! 
> 
> —Tay <3


	39. Draco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s my chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you like it! Unfortunately, Appie’s going through a bit of writer’s block, so her chapter likely won’t be out tonight. It should be out sometime this weekend though.
> 
> All my love  
> Tay

The rest of the school year passed in a blur of spring rains, summer air, stolen moments and late nights prepping for N.E.W.T.S. Draco and Harry were busier than ever between their classes, lesson plans and Quidditch practices, they hardly had any time for themselves, let alone each other.

Once Draco had finished up his exams, there were only nine days left before Draco would ride the Hogwarts Express one final time. It felt strange to think about that, to think how he likely wouldn’t ever return to this place, this place that had raised him, and taught him and let him grow into himself.

Harry was busy with grading all of the Defense exams, he’d started with the eighth years and begun working his way down. For obvious reasons, Draco hadn’t been allowed to help him with the eighth years, but once Harry finished up with them, he and Draco had split Harry’s work between them. Surprisingly the pair of them worked well together and finished up all of Harry’s grading before Hermione had even finished half of hers. Granted she had a few more exams than they did, even so, to Draco it felt like an accomplishment.

Quite graciously, (and very Gryffindorly) Harry offered to grade half of Hermione’s remaining exams. Draco, though he complained throughout the entire thing, assisted Harry in completing them too. In all, it took six days for them to get it all done, leaving them with the final three for themselves.

And Draco knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that those three days were the very best days of his entire existence.

All of the eighth years were in higher spirits after winning the house cup and the Quidditch Cup (yes they did that) and they seemed to have forgotten any animosity that they had held towards Draco. Though Draco suspected that their new found friendliness had something to do with all of the Daily Prophet’s articles regarding his relationship with Harry.

Draco had been shocked these last few months to find that the articles about him hadn’t all been awful. In fact, very few of them sought to damage his reputation at all, in most cases they defended him or even said they understood.

Now he had to hope that those writers would feel the same way when his house arrest was lifted and he was out in the Wizarding World looking for work. And he was sure that should he and Harry break up, the prophet would have a field day bashing him.

Draco directed this thoughts elsewhere and leaned into his boyfriend’s shoulder. They were sitting outside together beneath a great hanging willow. It offered them both privacy and a clear view of the lake and forest beyond. The sky was a bright, brilliant blue void of any clouds. And how was it that Draco had never noticed how lush and vibrant the grass was before? It was as though in these past few weeks the world had grown ten times more beautiful.

“Can’t you just tell me what I got on the Defense exam already?” Draco asked, they’d already had this conversation a dozen times, though Harry had always managed to distract Draco from seeking his grade.

“Nope,” Harry said resolutely, “Can’t have the others thinking you’re getting special treatment.”

Draco groaned, “Why not? I’m your boyfriend, doesn’t that come with any benefits?”

Harry snorted and stood up, stretching his limbs and offering Draco a hand. Draco took it and Harry pulled him into a standing position. “I’m not enough of a benefit then?”

“Oh stop it,” Draco said, laughing.

And together they set off, walking side by side, their fingers intertwined, the summer breeze running through their hair.

***

Draco had a hard time packing his trunk. After living with Harry for this long, it was hard to say goodbye, hard to know their time together was coming to an end. He knew that Harry would be able to visit him, they’d be able to have dates and write to each other, but it wouldn’t be the same. Draco wouldn’t wake up next to Harry every morning, wouldn’t fall asleep to Harry’s soft snores.

“Do you need me to pack for you?” Harry asked, his trunk filled, and his side of the room utterly bare.

“No, I can manage it.” Draco said, “And in any case, I don’t want my things just shoved into my trunk with no care for them, I’d like everything to be orderly.”

“Careful,” Harry said, “Your Malfoy is showing.”

Draco lifted the corner of his mouth in a half smile and went back to packing. Five minutes later he had stopped again and found himself staring out their window.

“We’ll never be back here,” He found himself whispering, as he looked out upon the grounds. “I didn’t realize how much I’d miss this place.”

Harry shrugged, “I might be back next year, I kind of liked teaching.”

“Would Hermione come back with you?” Draco asked, glad to have a distraction from his own thoughts.

“Probably not, I’d be on my own, but I think I could manage it.” Harry said, moving across the room and beginning to unload heaps of clothes from Draco’s drawer. Draco cringed as Harry unceremoniously dumped them into his trunk. “Oh don’t give me that look, we have to be down at Hogsmeade Station in an hour and you’ve done nothing on your own, if I let you continue on at that rate, you’d never make it before the train left.”

Draco sighed, “I know,” He flopped on his bed, “It’s just- I don’t want to go.”

Harry gave him a sympathetic look and sat down beside him, snaking an arm around Draco’s waist and pulling him in close. Instinctively Draco leaned his head on Harry’s shoulder. “Is it the house? Or just that you’ll miss being here?”

“It’s the house partly, of course I’ll be glad to see my mum again, but I loathe that house. But majorly, I’ll miss this, you, us... being here together.” Draco mumbled, embarrassed with himself.

Harry kissed Draco’s temple, “Hey, love, I’m not going anywhere, I’ll visit as much as you like and we can write and its only six months, then you’ll be free- we’ll be free to do whatever the hell we want.”

Harry grinned at him, and Draco did his best to return it. Apparently his attempt was passable because Harry stood once again and began hastily packing Draco’s things.

Forty-five minutes later, Harry and Draco headed down for Hogsmeade, their trunks levitating behind them. They had reached the border where the Hogwarts’s grounds bridged with Hogsmeade, when Draco saw Professor McGonagall seeing students off and saying their final goodbyes.

“Go on without me, I’ll catch up.” Draco said. Harry gave him a questioning look, but still made his way towards the Hogwarts Express. Draco stood there for a moment watching his boyfriend go before he turned and headed in the direction of McGonagall.

“Ah, Mr. Malfoy, what can I do for you?” She asked, and her smile was kind, if not a little surprised.

“I just wanted to say,” Draco was finding this to be harder than he’d expected. “Er... I just wanted to say, thank you. Thank you for giving me a second chance and testifying and all of it. Thank you.”

She smiled at him as tears pooled in the corners of her twinkling eyes, “You will always be welcome at Hogwarts, Draco.” Something in those words and in her face reminded Draco of Dumbledore. And he knew McGonagall would be just as good of a Headmistress as Dumbledore was Headmaster, if not better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Love you all! Please leave some comments, and kudos if you haven’t already. Keep on the lookout this weekend for Appie’s chapter.
> 
> As some of you have likely realized, we are reaching the end here. There are three chapters left; Appie’s chapter for this week and then the two epilogue chapters that will be coming out on Christmas! It’s crazy to think about (at least for me). 
> 
> I’m going to miss this...
> 
> With that said, would y’all be interested in reading a spin off of sorts? If so, what would you be interested in seeing? Let me know in the comments. 
> 
> But be warned, we are both pretty busy so it might be a bit before anything with that can actually happen.
> 
> Thank you for all of the support you shown us on this wonderful journey! 
> 
> My best wishes  
> Tay <3


	40. Endings and Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for being late!!!  
> I had an awful headache Friday night and just got around to posting!!  
> Hope you like it
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

The end of the year seemed to fly by. Before Harry knew it he was proctoring exams, and taking some of his own. Officials from whatever part of the Ministry was in charge of education came to have him and Hermione take some sort of advanced NEWT exam, it would be averaged with whatever percent better or worse students had done in his third year due to the fact that that was when they had deemed the most recent and still competent teacher. Competent meaning not on Voldemort’s side (Quirrel, Crouch), not an idiot (Lockhart), and not rotting in Azkaban (Umbridge), also they wanted it to be in a year before the pressures of Voldemort had set in on society (Snape). Harry was pretty sure they’d tie exam scores wise with Remus’s teaching so really no impact on them passing the pseudo-NEWTs.

When the last day of exams finished, Harry, miraculously, had the entire afternoon free to spend with Draco.

Harry headed into the common room after he finished proctoring the final exam of the day, the sixth years. His boyfriend was holed up in the little seat that had been put under the stairs to the boys dorm. Draco really hadn’t sat there a lot as of late, it seemed to have been his hiding place at the beginning of the year more than anything.

Harry walked over and leaned on the side of the stairs, “Hey, you wanna do something?”

“Maybe, what do you mean by something?”

“I dunno, a walk around the grounds, a raid of the kitchens, or...”

“Or what?” Draco said, poking his head out.

“This.” Harry leaned down and kissed him.

Draco pulled back for just a moment, “That one, that one sounds good.”

Without giving Harry time to process what was happening next, Draco grabbed the collar of his shirt and made to pull Harry into the alcove.

Harry’s mind froze, images of his childhood flashing through his mind.

He pulled back, “What’s wrong?” Draco asked.

His head felt full, too full to form words. He backed away and dashed to their room.

By the time he came back to himself he realized he had just bolted from his boyfriend for no good reason. No, it was an okay reason, his brain supplied in a voice that sounded like the mind healer he had seen a few times this past year, mostly the previous summer.

He just hadn’t been able to tell Draco about that stuff yet.

Harry sat on the floor by the end of the bed. They had joined it to one bed at some point in the past month after waking up to one of them nearly falling off one of the twin beds one too many times.

“Harry?” Draco said opening the door, “What was that?”

Harry wasn’t sure where to start.

“I’m sorry if I did something, said something wrong.”

Of course Draco thought it had something to do with him, Harry hated himself for making Draco feel that way “It has nothing to do with you.”

“Good, does that mean I can join you?”

Harry nodded.

“You know you can tell me right?”

“I know. It’s just hard.”

Draco took his hand and squeezed it.

“Do you remember me writing to you over Christmas about how my relatives knew I had magic and didn’t tell me?”

“Kind of. I remember seeing that line, now that you mention it, I just never thought to ask about it.”

“They didn’t tell me because they hate anything and everything to do with magic. My aunt was jealous of my mum’s abilities when they were small and ended up carrying that hate with her. She married my uncle and they ended up having an obsession with being very normal.”

Draco sat there, looking intently at Harry.

“They hated me, the dark skinned, magical, orphan, dropped on their doorstep in the middle of the night one November. To them I was everything not ‘normal’ and therefore not right with the world. Didn’t help that I’m not straight, like hell I’d ever tell them that though. Until my first Hogwarts letter arrived, they made me sleep under the stairs in a little cupboard.”

“I was sitting under the stairs, I tried to pull you under there with me.” Draco said, “I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s fine. Well, what they did to me isn’t, but you had no reason to know better.”

They sat in silence for a minute.

“You don’t have to tell me more about them today you know, if it’s too much. Just tell me what you’re comfortable telling when you’re comfortable telling it.” Harry nodded, as Draco continued. “It seems you’ve got a lot of hurt in your past, I just want you to know that I love you, and I’m here for whatever you need.”

“Thank you.” Harry whispered, he felt tears in his eyes, he leaned over to kiss Draco.

He pulled away shyly a moment later.

“You feel up to continuing the afternoon of snogging?” Draco asked, motioning to the bed behind them.

Harry smiled, “Only if you are.”

The next week consisted of grading, and a lot of it. Once he finished the eighth year exams, he let Draco help. He could tell Draco was getting restless watching Harry work away at the exams. With a general answer key provided Draco’s help made the grading process fly by.

They ended up having three days to themselves at the end of term. Draco had been begging to know what his grade was on his defense exam. Harry refused to tell him, mostly because he had no idea what Draco had gotten. He and Hermione had made an agreement last summer that they weren’t allowed to grade essays of people they were dating. This was still when he and Ginny were trying to give it a go, just before they both realized they had completely different desires. Harry had wound up grading all of Ron’s essays that year, in the beginning because he was dating Hermione, then because they weren’t speaking and after that well, it just became habit. Neville’s essays had made their way into all of Harry’s grading stacks since March, and Draco’s had been in Hermione’s since they came back from Christmas.

Harry wasn’t too worried about how Draco had done though, he had been at the top of the class most of the year.

Harry had arranged a meeting with McGonagall a week after exam results were expected to come out to discuss him returning to be a full time teacher the next year. He was excited about the prospect of becoming a teacher, even more so than he had been about becoming an auror in previous years.

Hermione seemed to be leaning towards going into healing the next year, though she did have a bunch of social-justice-like offers from the Ministry that she liked as well.

Ron was going to be an auror. Neville had an apprenticeship with a herbologist. Pansy had something journalistic up her sleeve. Blaise already was getting a business up and running. Harry knew Draco hadn’t quite decided what to do yet. Harry took every opportunity to remind Draco that that was okay, every time Draco seemed to relax a little, so Harry assumed the reminders were helping.

Draco was taking forever to pack the morning they had to leave. Harry had packed up everything from the bedroom and his classroom a few days before, leaving only the necessities out. It was oddly put together of him. Mature. Like he was an adult now. That was a scary thought.

He supposed he hadn’t really been a child, well, ever. But he hadn’t thought of himself as an adult until now.

Once they finally made it onto the train Draco and Harry went over their plans for the summer together.

Harry planned to spend every Sunday at the manor until Draco was free to roam. Sure he’d probably make visits in between if and when he felt like it, but having the set plan of a full day to themselves felt good. It gave him some structure.

Andromeda was letting Harry have Teddy from Thursday evenings to Saturday evenings. This would probably change provided he was allowed to come back and teach again the following year, but that wasn’t worth thinking about until he got his exam results back.

As he stepped off the train at King’s Cross, Harry knew that there was a good summer, and hopefully a good year ahead of him.


	41. Draco: Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, here we are; the end! I can’t believe it’s here already. Thank you so much for joining Appie and I on this journey. Before I go off on a tangent, here’s the chapter!
> 
> —Tay <3

Draco was surviving his house arrest, not only surviving it, but actually living it. It didn’t even really feel like a punishment at all. He was closer with his mum than ever before and Harry had visited him at least once every week for a date. Best of all, he only had one more month to go before he’d be able to leave the Manor and begin the rest of his life. Nymphadora’s friend, Jess, was often the auror tasked with watching over him and his mother. She turned out to be a good friend to him.

Since she was a halfblood, with a muggle father, she’d grown up with muggle things. Draco had to admit, some of the muggle’s inventions weren’t all that bad. She’d introduced him to some of her favorite movies, books with muggle authors and characters, football, and best of all, music. Of course the wizarding world had music, but it was no where near as advanced or diverse as what the muggles had.

Now, you couldn’t catch Draco without music playing, day or night, he always had the radio on. Harry found it incredibly amusing, especially when he’d walked into the sitting room to find Draco dancing around the room, lip syncing to Bon Jovi. Draco didn’t think Harry would ever let him live that moment down. Not that he really minded.

A few times over the past five months, Jess had offered to bring him and his mum to see his dad in Azkaban, but while his mum had gone, Draco had always declined. Until today. Draco had finally plucked up the courage to go and visit him.

Draco wasn’t sure what he would do when he saw his father. Hug him, shout at him, say he hated him, tell him he loved him, give him the silent treatment... Draco had no idea. He hadn’t been able to work out what he felt towards his father. He knew he was a little angry at him for all the harm his actions had caused. But Draco also knew that he loved him. He wasn’t sure which emotion would win out when he was finally face to face with his father.

Then there was the matter of telling him about his relationship with Harry. Upon request, Draco’s mum had not mentioned Harry to his father on any of their visits, and Draco was determined to tell him today.

Harry had offered to go with him, but Draco had declined, this was something he needed to do on his own. His mum understood that and stayed back too. So, when he set off for Azkaban, it was just him and Jess. He was glad to have her with him, she was not easily fazed and she would make sure he went through with it and didn’t back out. Not only that but she had seen his father since he’d been locked up and she could offer some insight as to how he’d been since he’d been sentenced to life in that prison.

Together, he and Jess apparated to the island that housed Azkaban. Three more aurors were waiting for them when the arrived and they took formation, surrounding Draco, like he was the center of a diamond and they were each a corner. The November air bit at his face, and Draco pulled his scarf tighter around himself. It was protocol for the aurors to take his wand and cuff him. But they’d only done the former, opting that the latter was a bit overkill.

Azkaban wasn’t nearly as frightening as Draco had imagined it, nor as disturbing as renderings had depicted it. Draco chalked that up to the fact that the dementors had been removed from the premises. Draco was searched the moment he stepped inside. After several minutes, the guards seemed satisfied that he had nothing dangerous hidden away.

It was only when they had allowed him to pass through that he realized this was actually happening. Draco was actually going to see his father. What if his father was angry with him or didn’t want to see him? Draco didn’t know what he would do if his father refused his company. “Alright,” Jess said, shuffling her papers, “Lucius is on the ninth floor, in cell 947. The lift is this way.” She led him through a few crisscrossing corridors until they reached a clunky old lift.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Draco asked, eying it warily. She nodded and gestured for him to step inside. He did and she followed right behind him, pressing the rusted number nine button. The lift lurched upward. Draco had to brace himself against the wall to keep from falling over. “When my mum has gone to see him before, has he seemed angry?” Draco looked to Jess, expectantly, but just then the lift lurched to a stop and the doors screeched open, drowning off any response she might have uttered. Across the way Draco could see a cell door, marked with a small 932. They were close to his father’s. Together they started off down the narrow corridor, drawing ever nearer. 936... 941... 946- and there it was, his father’s cell.

“Go on in,” Jess said encouragingly, “I’ll be out here, give a shout if you need anything.”

Draco nodded, gulped and opened the door. The cell was a tad larger than Draco had expected. There was a small desk in the corner, a rickety bed and a toilet. A little window, lined with bars overlooked the sea crashing against the rocks below. His father was sitting on the bed, his back to him, peering out the window.

“Dad?” Draco whispered into the deafening silence.

Slowly, his father turned around to face him. A soft smile broke across his face as his father saw him for the first time in over a year. “Draco.” The word was barely a whispered breath. “Oh, my son.” He stood and moved until he less than a foot away from Draco. “I thought I would never see you again!”

He looked healthier than Draco had seen him in a long time, certainly healthier than he had been while serving You-Know-Who. The bags under his eyes had faded some, from the deep purple they’d been to a dull, hardly visible blue. And in his eyes, Draco hadn’t seen that in a long time- hope, pure and unfettered. It was then that he realized how much he’d missed his dad, and that he forgave him, or could forgive him with time. So, reached forward and embraced his dad. His father returned the hug without hesitation, holding him close. “I’ve missed you.” His father whispered.

“I’ve missed you too, dad.” Draco returned as they broke apart.

“I’m so sorry, I never should have involved you in any of that, you were a child, I thought I was protecting you, but really I was just making everything worse.”

And Draco said the words aloud, partly because he knew his dad needed to hear them, and partly because he needed to say them, “I forgive you.”

Something in his dad’s shoulders seemed to loosen, relax. “How have you been? Your mother has only told me the bare minimum. I know you went back to Hogwarts to redo your final year, but the rest, she said was up to you to tell me.”

So Draco told him, about being roommates with Harry, being Quidditch captain, top of the class in Defense, second in everything else, becoming friends with Harry, all of it. When he got to the bit about Harry being his boyfriend, he paused, scared and unsure, but his dad seemed so eager and proud, that he took the chance, went ahead and said it, damning the consequences. His dad’s face morphed to one of shock, surprise, but not disgust or horror or anger and he didn’t seem to be looking for a way to use the relationship to his advantage. That was as much as Draco could hope for.

They talked for several hours and then it was time for Draco to go. Just as he was about to close the door, his father spoke one final time. “Are you happy?”

Draco paused, and slowly turned back to face his father. “Yes, I am, for the first time in a while.”

His dad nodded slowly, digesting this. The silence stretched for several minutes before he said, “Good, that’s all that matters to me now.”

“I can’t promise when I’ll visit next, but I’ll write, as often as I can.” Draco said and stepped across the threshold, closing the door softly behind him.

Jess’s shift had long since ended, but she had stayed anyways. “How did it go?” She asked, her eyes gentle.

“Better than expected. It wasn’t easy, but it was good to see him again.” He didn’t know how to explain it, not in a way that made any sense, but she seemed to understand enough of it to nod her head.

“Is there anyone else you’d like to visit while we’re here?” She asked as they reached the lift.

“Not today,” He sighed out, “I think I’ve had enough of this place for a while.” She nodded again, understanding that as well.

***

When Draco finally made it back to the manor, the sun had sunken behind the treetops, basking the sky in a golden-pink hue. Inside, his mum was waiting for him, dinner sitting untouched on the table.

When he walked in, she offered him a hopeful smile. He knew that she, maybe more than himself, had hoped today would go well. “You were gone a long time,” She remarked, as the auror, who had switched out with Jess, stepped out of the room to offer them some privacy.

“Yes, well father and I had a lot of catching up to do.” Draco said, sitting down at one of the set plates. “You’ve set the table for three.”

“Since you’re all in one piece, I take it the visit went well?” Harry asked, as he strode into the room.

“Harry!” Draco exclaimed, surprised to see his boyfriend here, two days before their planned date.

“Hey, love,” Harry said, coming over, wrapping an arm around Draco’s waist, and planting a chaste kiss on his lips. Harry slid into the seat beside Draco and asked, “So how is daddy dearest?”

Draco laughed and told them everything.

After dinner was finished, Harry waved his wand and set the dishes to washing themselves over the sink. Then the pair of them took their leave, curling up together in Draco’s bed. “I love you.” Harry whispered, his face buried in the crook of Draco’s neck.

“I love you too.” Draco whispered back, looking up to the ceiling. To the stars they’d painted there on a particularly hard day over the summer. The stars that had finally made this room feel like home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I’ll admit, I got a little bit teary writing the end of it. I’m already missing it and I’ve only just finished. I really hope it has lived up to expectations! Leave your thoughts in the comments, as always, I love to read them! I’ll reply to everyone; so if you have any questions or requests, ask! Ask! Ask! If you haven’t left kudos and you’ve made it this far, please leave them for us. Thanks again for all of your support.
> 
> Love you all,  
> Tay


	42. Harry: Epilogue

The summer flew past, Harry wasn’t sure where it went. He went to visit Draco at least once a week, usually more. His test results came in mid July and he had gotten an outstanding on the Defense test, which meant he qualified to return to teach.

Ron had started auror training and Hermione was busy spending time with Neville before his apprenticeship started, leaving Harry more time to himself. That meant Harry spent most of his time either with Draco at the manor or taking Teddy to the park. Though Harry was finally close to finishing his cleanup and redecoration of Grimmuald. That had been slowed for a few weeks when he decided to reconfigure some of the layout on the third floor. He had started seeing his mind healer again. He supposed that was the best way to spend an afternoon a week.

Though that didn’t mean there weren’t hard days. He usually ended up at the manor with Draco those days.

One day in mid august Draco had such a bad day he wasn’t responding to his mother. Narcissa had floo called Harry in a panic and Harry had been over before she could finish. That was the day they had finally added the stars to the underside of the canopy on Draco’s bed.

The school year started again. Harry was able to return to Grimmuald most nights. He really only had to stay when he had hall duty, though if he was there late grading or had a student that wanted an early morning tutoring session he would stay the night. He had decorated his rooms to be an odd combination of the blue and green he and Draco had used with a few Gryffindor colors here and there.

The Thursday to Saturday arrangement for his custody of Teddy changed to weekends only. They had fallen into a rhythm where Harry would pick up Teddy before dinner on Fridays and then keep him over the weekend. He and Andromeda would meet up for dinner on Sundays at the manor of all places. It was a good arrangement, Andie got to see her sister, Harry got to see his boyfriend and Teddy got to run around the manor grounds.

Harry still found himself visiting the manor more than once a week despite having a full time job.

The holidays were fast approaching again. Draco would be let off his house arrest just after the new year. Draco liked to joke that it was a new millennium and therefore a new phase of his life every time he was reminded about it.

He had gotten a couple books and things for Draco, but that wasn’t really the big present he had planned, he was planning to ask Draco to move in with him after his house arrest was lifted.

Harry spent the morning of Christmas Day at the Burrow, which was quite nice, then he apparated straight into the manor, the wards had been altered to allow him in months ago.

Draco was waiting in the entryway for him, “You’re here!” Draco came up and gave him a kiss.

“Sorry it took so long Molly insisted I stay for lunch.”

“That’s fine. Mother and I did our gifts this morning, so all we have are your gifts.”

Harry smiled as Draco led him into the sitting room where Narcissa was sitting on the couch sipping some tea.

“Good morning Harry.” She smiled.

“Good morning.” He held out the small gift box he had wrapped for her.

“You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Nonsense, you deserve something nice too.”

She took the box and neatly unwrapped it, in a way that didn’t rip the paper. She pulled out a simple silver chain with a few charms.

“A charm bracelet,” She paused to examine the charms, a dragon, a narcissus, a tree, and a charm of the andromeda constellation, “It’s beautiful, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Okay your turn.” Draco said pulling Harry down and placing a box that was a bit bigger than the one he gave Narcissa.

Harry tore into the gift and found an expensive looking jewelry box. He opened it and pulled out two necklaces. “Necklaces?”

“They’re a charmed set. You wear one and I wear one. They read your mood and transmit it as a color to the other’s necklace.”

“Draco, this is so sweet.” Harry leaned over and kissed him, “Now open yours.”

Draco opened the large package that Harry had given him.

“Books,” Draco scanned through the titles. “Potions books, muggle novels, and is this?” Draco pulled out a rather large book, “What is this?”

“It’s a book, I worked on it over the summer. People are gonna want a biography for me at some point. I thought I’d rather write it before someone like Skeeter screws it up. It’s got a bit more in it than the draft I’m working on now, that one’s not gonna be ready for the public until the summer. This one’s more personal, you don’t have to read it, I just thought I’d share it with you.”

“This is so cool.” Draco said, “Thank you for sharing this.” Draco leaned in and kissed him.

A while later he and Draco were on a walk around the grounds Harry was admiring the way the light reflected off some icicles on a tree when Draco said abruptly, “I can’t wait to get out of this place.”

Harry looked at him to let him continue.

“It’s not that I hate it here, it’s my childhood home and I have some good memories here, but being here all the time is getting to me.”

“Are you gonna get your own place once you can leave?”

“I doubt anyone would sell or rent me something. Though the thought has crossed my mind.”

Harry breathed, this was his opportunity, “What if you moved in with me?”

“What?”

“I mean it’s not like we haven’t cohabitated before, and we’ve been together for nearly a year now, and I finished cleaning up the townhouse in the summer, it does get a bit lonely there sometimes, I just thought...” Harry rambled.

Draco shut him up with a kiss.

“I would love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand we’re done! This has been an incredible adventure for the last six months. I hope all of y’all are well and those who celebrate are having a Merry Christmas. No we did not plan to end with a Christmas on Christmas it just worked out that way.
> 
> I’d like to thank Tay for being such an amazing person and willing to work on this fic with me. 
> 
> Please check out our other fics! If you liked this one you’ll love Tay’s Emma Evans universe. 
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos to feed our souls
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie


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